Raila: I Will Run Parallel Government from Exile

National Super Alliance (Nasa) supremo Raila Odinga says that he will form a parallel government once he takes oath as the people's president on January 30th.

Speaking during an interview with Voice of America, the opposition leader insisted that he trounced President Kenyatta and will, therefore, use the results of the August 8, 2017 election, to swear-in himself as president. Odinga further stated he will unveil his cabinet after the January 30th inauguration and run a government, even if it means from exile.

“This is no joke. An illegitimate government is in office, and the one that the people actually wanted to be there is outside. On January 30, we will end this. We will be sworn in with the August 8 results that shows we won,” he said.

In the August 8th poll, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced President Kenyatta as the winner with 8,203,290 votes (54 per cent) followed by Mr Odinga’s 6,762,224 (43 per cent). The election was later annulled by the Supreme Court citing irregularities and illegalities in the process. The Apex Court ordered for a fresh poll within 60 days, but Odinga and his brigade boycotted the repeat election held on October 26th, citing refusal by electoral commission to undertake necessary reforms that would guarantee a credible outcome.

“We can even be a government in exile, one that works from outside. It has happened in other countries. What we are saying is that Kenyans can no longer allow an illegitimate government not elected by the people to rule them. We will work like a government, we will form a Cabinet and we will work as a government,” Odinga said in the Swahili interview recorded at his Capitol Hill office, Nairobi.

He downplayed claims that his fellow Nasa co-principals were divided on the swearing-in plan. “There is no rift in Nasa at all. No problems whatsoever. My brothers are fully behind the course,” he said.