Raila fiercely attacks Judiciary, IEBC as he jets back from Zanzibar

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party leader Raila Odinga has slammed the Judiciary and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over the outcome of the 2022 presidential election petition.

Speaking in Mombasa shortly after jetting into the country from his week-long vacation in Zanzibar, the Azimio chief faulted the country's judicial system together with the electoral body accusing them of sabotaging the will of the people during the polls.

He recalled the ruling on 5th September where the seven-judge bench threw out all the petitions challenging President William Ruto’s victory, claiming that some of the judges were compromised.

“Shame on the judiciary of this country. I see them protesting and trying to give threats…we will talk. The constitution of this country gives power to the people of Kenya and those exercising donated power and the judiciary is no exception,” he said.

“We can lead a one million match to the judiciary and say kwendeni nyumbani! We have a right to say we don't agree with bad rulings of a Judiciary. It's our constitutional right to say hii ruling ilikua shenzi. It was not based on law. It was judicial thuggery. We will not be cowed... we will not allow the judiciary to become a dictator in this country," he said.

Odinga went on to poke holes in the electoral commission’s conduct of the August elections saying Azimio, which is now the official opposition, would be firm in ensuring IEBC’s operations are streamlined before the next elections.

He reiterated his past sentiments that even though his fold respected the court ruling, they did not agree to it.

“We as Azimio are shocked… I am not talking about this as Raila Odinga, it does not have to be Raila Odinga…but my fear is that if what people saw happen on the 5th of September is what they expect in 2017, am wondering why people should wake up and go and vote?” He posed.

 “The Supreme Court said they are going to give a detailed ruling within 28 days. We want to wait and see what the ruling is going to be about…” he stated.

Odinga reiterated his position that the August 9th election was sabotaged saying: “Why should women, elderly, disabled queue for so many hours to cast their vote when at the end of the end it is a mercenary from Venezuela, Jose Camargo who eventually decide who becomes the president?”

At the same time, he lauded new Mombasa Governor AbdulSwamad Nassir for clinching the seat despite the ‘setbacks’ he said had been orchestrated by the IEBC to deny him victory.

“I want to congratulate Nassir for convincingly winning the gubernatorial seat…as you know it was deliberately left behind here and Kakamega like our lawyers said in the court so that they could rig but the people have shown they are clearly Azimio,” Odinga noted.

On his vacation to Zanzibar, the ODM leader said it helped in re-energizing him and providing an atmosphere for personal reflections in the company of his family.

"I went to recuperate in the Islands of Zanzibar. I took my wife, children, and grandchildren also to go and heal out of the shock that they got as a family. We came this morning …” Odinga explained.