
Letter from Hon. Moses Kuria: “Re Relinquishing my Posistion as Member of the Energy & ICT Commitee (28.06.2016)


“Cord co-principal Senator Moses has warned Jubilee Government against auctioning Kenya. He says no one has a certificate of ownership of this country and that they will not accept theft of public properties” (Daily Nation, 2016).
“For Samuel Kimeu, director of Transparency International Kenya, dialogue between development banks and civil society is a crucial element in the fight against fraud and corruption” (France 24 English, 2016)
“The opposition cord has called off all Anti-IEBC demonstrations indefinitely, announcing that key issues have been agreed on and a motion establishing a join committee to spearhead dialogue will be ready before the end of the week.
The announcement brings relief after nearly two months that have been marked by on and off street protests to demand the disbandment of IEBC” (Kenya Citizen TV, 2016)

Last weekend, we announced the suspension of anti-IEBC protests that were scheduled for last Monday because we were convinced that there were positive and fruitful engagements with the Jubilee administration that seemed to be heading in the right direction and that a peaceful and speedy resolution of the IEBC stand -off was in the horizon. We however did indicate that our programmes for demonstrations would resume on Thursday in the event that no serious progress was witnessed before then.
Since then, much more progress has been made and a lot of ground covered on the sticking issues. We see political will and rays of good faith being exhibited by all parties and a conducive and enabling environment created, although we are yet to conclude discussions on a few but equally important issues.
We therefore wish to inform all our supporters and the country at large that CORD has once again agreed to call off Thursday protests to create a conducive environment for the conclusion of talks on the two or three issues that remain outstanding.

We reiterate once more that as CORD, we hold no cards under the table and our commitment and objective is limited to resolving the IEBC crisis and ensuring that the people of Kenya can have, as of right, free, fair, transparent, credible, verifiable, peaceful and accountable elections in 2017 and beyond.
However, we are deeply concerned about developments in the last few days where our MPs have been detained without trial or charges being proffered against them. The MPs are also being held incommunicado.
We think this environment cannot be sustained to make progress in the dialogue. In the circumstances, Jubilee should conclude expeditiously their response to the issues we have raised and the persecution of our members and leadership must cease. All these unless resolved will see us resume our demonstrations on Monday 20th and Thursday 23rd, 2016.
SEN. JAMES ORENGO
HON. DR. SIMIYU ESELI
“8 legislators from both CORD and Jubilee this morning through their lawyers have filed an appeal against a decision to have them detained until Friday over alleged hate remarks. The legislators are arguing that their arrest goes against the right to post bail, a claim that the office of the director of public prosecution refutes claiming that the legilators will interefere with police investigations. The 8, Moses Kuria, Ferdinand Waititu, Aisha Jumwa, Florence Mutua, Johnstone Muthama, Junet Mohammed, Timothy Bosire And Kimaani Ngunjiri were arrested yesterday following public outcry over alleged remarks made in public believed to amount to incitement and hate speech” (KTN News, 2016).

The government will not tolerate any more destruction of property by the opposition under the cover of peaceful protests.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said stern action will be taken against anyone who destroys public or private property while claiming to be holding peaceful demonstrations. The President also called on those who take part in the opposition demonstrations over the IEBC to use their intelligence and stop provoking security officers. The President said it was laughable for someone to throw stones at armed officers and expect that the policemen will enjoy the treatment. President Kenyatta said such foolhardy people will only have themselves to blame.
“We will not allow demonstrations to be used to destroy any property,” said the President when he spoke in Tala where he launched development projects. The President gave his warning after observing that the opposition was not genuinely interested in dialogue over the IEBC. President Kenyatta said even after the Jubilee government nominated MPs to sit in a select committee of Parliament, the opposition appears to be backtracking even though it had used the excuse of wanting dialogue to cause destruction of property and lose of lives. President Kenyatta also told the leaders of the opposition not to entertain any thoughts of him sitting down to discuss issues concerning the IEBC with them.

“I have no business sitting down with you. I was elected to steer the development of this country. This other issues are the roles of Members of Parliament,” the President said. Deputy President William Ruto said it was comical for the opposition to appear confounded just when the Government has agreed to have real dialogue on the issue of IEBC. “They have been protesting and saying they want dialogue. We told them it is alright, let us form a select committee then they start retreating. Apparently, they did not even know why they were protesting,” the Deputy President said.
The DP urged politicians to stop being selfish and putting their interest before that of the citizens. “It must not be which position I will get. It must be about how to change the life of the ordinary Kenyan,” said the DP. He said the protests the opposition has been holding will not help Kenyans because it is about the selfish interest of some group of politicians. Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua said the people of Ukambani have no time for the protests because they love peace and are also busy trying to improve their welfare. Governor Mutua said he wants to roll out a National ID card registration program in Machakos county on every Monday to coincide with the day the opposition has been holding protests.

“We also want to ask the IEBC to issue the people of this area with voters cards on every Thursday,” said the Govenor. The public rally at Tala was addressed by many legislators who said that the people of the region were supportive of the development initiatives of the Government. The President addressed the rally after launching the tarmacking of the Tala-Oldonyo Sabuk-Kilimambogo Road at the cost of more than Ksh1 billion. The launch of the project marked the beginning of the President’s tour of Ukambani where he will launch development projects and meet local leaders as well us interact with the public.

10th June 2016,
Over the last three days, we have had, indirectly, positive and fruitful engagements with the Jubilee administration in which the religious faiths, the diplomatic community and business leaders have played a constructive role.
These engagements have not collapsed. From our standpoint we believe that seventy per cent of the sticking points have been agreed upon including the size of the committee, the independence of the committee, timelines and the subject matter.
However we need to conclude discussions on the question whether or not the committee could be subject to the standing orders of Parliament and controlled by the legislature in terms of secretarial services.
We believe the questions affecting IEBC are leadership and integrity challenges and management issues that must be addressed at a political level before the legislative processes are assumed by Parliament at the appropriate stage.
Political will and good faith must be exhibited by all parties and a conducive and enabling environment created. The talks and dialogue will be as good as they start as when they end. We recognise the steps made by Jubilee so far, but they are not enough for purposes of ensuring that success in reforming the IEBC is guaranteed.
As CORD, we hold no cards under the table. Our commitment and objective is limited to resolving the IEBC crisis and ensuring that the people of Kenya can have, as of right, free, fair, transparent, credible, verifiable, peaceful and accountable elections in 2017 and beyond.

In the meantime, our programmes for demonstrations are still in place for Monday and Thursday next week. But we are quick to point out that demonstrations are not an end in themselves and once we have an agreement and pathway to reform IEBC, they will not be necessary.
We note that the President on one hand, and Cabinet Secretary Nkaissery and the Inspector General on the other hand, have different and conflicting views and understanding on the right to peaceably assemble and to demonstrate. That internal contradiction among themselves must be resolved in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya which is clear and without a doubt.
We remain keen to see that peace prevails and the unity of the nation maintained.
Signed.