ODM Party Leader Oburu Oginga says former President Uhuru Kenyatta owes Kenyans answers following his remarks that the late ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election.
In a statement on Thursday, Oburu said Uhuru’s remarks confirmed what ODM had believed and maintained at the time.
He said the party chose to let the matter rest and move the country forward after exhausting the constitutional avenues available to it.
However, Oburu questioned why Uhuru had raised the issue four years later and why it had not been addressed when the alleged electoral injustice occurred.
“Now that President Kenyatta has chosen to exhume the deeply painful question of the 2022 election, he owes Kenyans some answers. First, why is this revelation important now, four years later, and not when the said electoral injustice occurred?” Oburu said.
He also questioned why Uhuru’s government facilitated the transfer of the instruments of power to William Ruto if the former President was convinced that Raila had won the election asking what Uhuru expected Kenyans to do with the information today.
“Second, if he was convinced that Raila Odinga had won, why did his government facilitate the transfer of the instruments of power to a person he believed had not won? What exactly does President Kenyatta expect the Kenyan people to do with this information today?” he said.
He said Uhuru’s statement had touched a raw nerve within ODM and among millions of Kenyans who stood with Raila Odinga.
“Elections concern the sovereign will of the people and the legitimacy of government. President Kenyatta must understand that his statement touches a raw nerve within ODM and among millions of Kenyans who stood with Raila Odinga,” Oburu added.
Oburu also recalled the political sacrifices ODM made in its relationship with Uhuru following the 2018 Handshake.
He said the party lowered its political ambitions in the interest of national unity and stability and demanded neither Cabinet nor administrative positions in Uhuru’s government despite its political strength.
Ahead of the 2022 election, Oburu said ODM again made difficult concessions, including ceding its quest for important elective positions such as the Nairobi gubernatorial seat.
He said the party made those compromises in good faith, believing they were necessary to support its presidential candidature and the broader coalition project.
He said the 2022 election and the sacrifices of Raila Odinga should not be reduced to material for contemporary vote-winning propaganda.
“The 2022 election and the sacrifices of our departed Party Leader must not be reduced to material for contemporary vote-winning propaganda. Having reopened this matter, President Kenyatta should tell the country the whole story,” he said.
