Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga urged
supporters to boycott Thursday’s repeat presidential election and
persuade their friends to do the same, saying he would lead a campaign
of civil disobedience against the government.
Odinga, however, backed away from previous promises to h
old large-scale protests on election day.
“We
advise Kenyans who value democracy and justice to hold vigil and
prayers away from polling stations, or just stay at home,” he told a
cheering crowd of thousands of people on Wednesday in Uhuru Park, in the
capital Nairobi.
“Convince your friends,
neighbors and everyone else not participate,” he said, but if they
support the president, he cautioned “do not insult or assault them.
Instead, seek to open their eyes.”
Election officials said the repeat presidential poll would go ahead regardless of Odinga’s decision.
The
repeat election was ordered by the Supreme Court after judges nullified
the results of an Aug. 8 presidential contest over procedural grounds.
Odinga is refusing to participate because he said
that the election commission has failed to implement reforms to prevent
another failed poll.
The Supreme Court was due
to hear cases seeking to delay the polls but was unable to do so after
five out of seven judges had failed to turn up, preventing a quorum.
Minutes after Chief Justice David Maraga said the
case could not be heard, hundreds of supporters took to the streets of
Kisumu, Odinga’s main stronghold.
Riot police used teargas to disperse them. Two protesters had gunshot wounds, a Reuters witness said.
If the government subverts the sovereign will of
the people ... then people are entitled to rebel against this
government,” Kisumu governor Anyang Nyong‘o, a hardline Odinga
supporter, told reporters in Kisumu.
(Source: The Reuters)
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