We’ll demonstrate if you don’t apologise to Raila, lobby group told

A Luo lobby group has been given 24 hours to apologise to CORD leader Raila Odinga over remarks made last week.

Speaking on Wednesday at Shauri Moyo assistant chief’s compound, a section of residents from Kaloleni/Shauri Moyo, led by Edward Ogolla, told John Odenyo and Asman Ali of the Luo Alternative Voice to apologise to Raila for calling for his resignation from politics over advancement in age.

Ogolla said that since the two officials are from the area, the residents have taken upon themselves to pile pressure on them to resign.

He said the locals have been angered by the statements made by the group, adding that if an apology is not rendered within the next 24 hours, they will hold a peaceful demonstration.

Meanwhile, ODM leaders have continued to express their disapproval of an opinion poll released by IPSOS on Tuesday on Raila’s political future.

In an interview on Citizen TV’s The Big Question on Tuesday, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo said the polls were propaganda by Jubilee to discredit Raila’s presidential ambitions.

He questioned the validity of the polls, reportedly commissioned by a local daily, saying they were aimed at shaping an opinion not sharing one.

The polls showed that 35 per cent of Kenyans think Mr Odinga should retire from politics while 34 per cent feel he should remain active and run in the 2017 presidential race.

Of those who want Raila to retire from politics, a paltry 5 per cent are CORD supporters while 60 per cent are Jubilee supporters.

The findings also show that 26 per cent of Kenyans think Raila should remain active in politics but not run in the next elections, while 5 per cent of Kenyans are not sure what they want.

However, it is expected that as members of two different political divides, Jubilee and CORD supporters would have varied position regarding the candidates of the opposing divide.

IPSOS Research director Tom Wolf has defended the polls saying the questions raised were not new. He termed the reaction by a section of Kenyans on the poll a result of the raising political temperatures.