Nairobi, Kenya – President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday, November 25 engaged in a heated exchange on Twitter.
It all started when Raila, the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) leader, accused Ruto of reinstating the Nyayo regime although in a different design.
The ODM leader said Ruto has captured government and independent institutions, thus inflicting injustice the people of Kenya.
Raila said this in reference to the petition seeking the removal of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners namely Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’aya.
The petition wants the four commissioners removed from office on grounds of gross misconduct, abuse of office, violation of the Constitution, and taking sides in the August 9 General Elections.
“The capture is now being attended to by the two houses of parliament. Swiftly Kenyans are being turned into being passive by-standers in the affairs with grave implications for our unity, stability and governance as a nation,” Raila posed.
He added; “Ruto’s administration is taking us back to the affairs last witnessed in the last regime of the 1980s. We are here to sound a warning that no one should lie to this regime that we will sit back and watch a return of the Nyayo regime in another name.”
Raila asked Members of Parliament (MPs) hearing the petition to defend the four commissioners whom he advised to boycott the summons by parliament.
“The injustice being inflicted on the IEBC commissioners will mark the beginning of a massive pushback against Ruto and those who think like him
“We will openly and robustly lead that pushback and we call on our houses of parliament to be guarantors of the rule of law and justice in the country and stop being the enablers of constitutional revenge mission they have been deployed on against the four commissioners,” he added.
Ruto was quick to respond to the former Prime Minister slamming him over his remarks, further poking holes on his 2018 handshake deal with former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“The lords of impunity, who destroyed oversight institutions using the handshake fraud, should allow parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. New order is RULE of LAW not wishes of big men,” the Head of State insisted.
Raila fired back at Ruto and asked MPs not to be involved in what he termed as the affairs of the Judiciary.
“There is due process and natural justice, things aren’t just done at the whims of the executive. The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027. We shall not relent,” he insisted.
The MPs brought together under the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee will listen to the petition for four days before retreating to make a decision on the quartet’s fate.