Nairobi police used tear gas and water cannons to prevent demonstrators from assembling to protest the electoral commission, known as the IEBC. Demonstrations went ahead Monday in several other Kenyan cities, and three people died under unclear circumstances in and around the western city of Kisumu. Raila Odinga, Kenya’s former prime minister and current opposition leader, says the ruling party has “no choice” but to discuss the opposition’s demand for changes to the electoral commission. Odinga visited VOA’s Nairobi studio Tuesday, a day after the deaths in Kisumu.
Odinga says there is a better way to deal with the situation. “And if the police allow these demonstrations, they will be really very peaceful, and they will just agree with us, you start from point A to point B, at this time,” said Odinga. “And people will do those demonstrations the way they do it in London, they way they do it in New York, the way they do it in Tokyo and so on.”
Odinga’s CORD coalition has been organizing the protests to demand changes in the electoral commission, which opposition parties say favors the ruling Jubilee coalition. Odinga says CORD wants a level playing field before presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for August of next year.
Full Article: Odinga: Kenya’s Ruling Party Must Negotiate on Electoral Commission.
