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Raila Odinga: Food, Security will be my priority number one

Monday August 07 2017
RAO

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) presidential candidate Raila Odinga. Mr Odinga says Food, Security will be his priority number one. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NATION

By ERICK ODUOR

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) presidential candidate spoke to The EastAfrican's ERICK ODUOR ahead of the August 8 election on his vision for East African integration.

Q: Should you win the Tuesday election, what specific steps will you take to deepen East African integration?

RO: The East African Community is in good shape in my view. But, of course, there is more to be done towards political federation. That said, regional integration is not something that a country can pursue unilaterally. It is a collaborative effort of all the member states.

In this regard, we are fully committed to working with the other member states to deepen integration, particular to fully implement the Common Market Protocol.

Q: Do you think the current regional leaders have taken concrete steps towards achieving an integrated East Africa?

RO: Yes. We have made good progress, particularly on the economic front, as reflected in the fact that the member states are each other’s largest trading partners.

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Cross-border investment is also considerable, as is movement of people. On the political front, we started out as three countries, we are now six, following the recent admission of South Sudan.

Q: What do you see as stumbling blocks to movement of goods and people across region?

RO: Infrastructure is a key challenge. It makes movement of goods expensive, even within the countries.

Policy harmonisation and predictability also causes problems for businesses. But tiffs in trade are normal, that is why trade dispute resolution mechanisms exist.

Q: How do you intend to deal with them?

RO: We will work with the other leaders to ensure that we accelerate harmonisation of policies in all the areas that we have agreed on under the Common Market Protocol,  in particular agriculture and food security, immigration and labour, to name a few.

Q: How do you rate Kenya’s relations with the other EAC member states?  

RO: Kenya is still the biggest economy, but  the goal is to grow the Common Market.

If Tanzania, for instance, grows faster as its doing now — that is good news for Kenyan businesses, as they share in the bigger market, and vice versa. Partnership works best when it’s among equals.

Q: What is your relationship with other heads of state in the region? Have you had  interactions with any of them during the campaign period?

RO: I have always had a good relationship with the heads of state in the region. As prime minister — in charge of co-ordination of government activities and the Cabinet — we did a lot together and in the process we got to know each other well.

That relationship remains. Whenever I have visited their countries, they have treated me cordially and with respect. There is no problem.

Q: Your friendship with Tanzanian President John Magufuli has caused some jitters during the ongoing campaigns. Tell us more about the friendship.

RO: President Magufuli and I have a longstanding friendship. It did not begin with him being president and it will not end with the end of his presidency.

I have many other friends who have ended up as presidents in other parts of the world. All I can say is that my friendship with President Magufuli  is good for our country, not a threat.

Why it is causing jitters is something only those who are jittery can explain. I don’t think it worries a majority of Kenyans at all.

Q: During the Kenya’s 50th Independence anniversary in 2013, you took issue with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni for allegedly interfering in Kenya’s internal politics. Do you still hold the same views?

RO: I was referring to a specific incident in which he appeared to be lecturing Kenyans on purely internal matters. Beyond that, we have a good relationship that has equally come a very long way.

Q: A lot have been said about you, including having been a political detainee. How do you think this will affect your administration if elected?

RO: This would not be my first stint in government. I was prime minister for five years, and a Cabinet minister before that.

With like-minded colleagues, we put the needs of Kenyans first in policy-making.

Each of those times — be it in during my 2001 appointment in the KANU — National Development Party co-operation, or in NARC in 2003 and Grand Coalition in 2008 — we took decisions that radically transformed Kenya: Expanding the people’s power; bringing marginalised communities to the centre of politics; and initiating infrastructural and economic changes that extended the benefits of our economy to larger groups was previously the case.

Q: Other Nasa principals say that you agreed to serve only one term should you win, will you keep your word?

RO: That is not hearsay. Our power-sharing agreement is a public document lodged with the Registrar of Political Parties as required by law.

Q: On several occasions, you have raised concern about the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s preparedness. Has that position changed as we go to the polls?

RO: The Commission has strong constitutional and legal protections for its work that weren’t applied well in the run-up to this election. We have raised concern about these along the way, and IEBC addressed some of the concerns.

What is important now is that the electronic machines work and results be transmitted in the way prescribed in law. Jubilee may do their best to cheat, but we have put measures in place to protect our vote and we believe we will be declared the winners on August 9.

With the courts having clarified the validity of results declared at the constituency level, the era of protracted tallying in which votes were padded for some candidates is over.

Q: There is concern that you have sold the popularity of ODM to get the ticket and so the party may end up getting fewer MPs even if you win.

RO: Before the Jubilee parties merged, ODM was the largest party in Kenya, with a reach in every corner of this country. Our strength has grown with each successive election and I know this election will be no different.

But a coalition is a give-and-take arrangement and so there are areas where we could have been stronger, but chose not to field candidates.

Our primaries also split the membership in some areas, in particular over governorship positions. But on this, too, I can tell you that our members recognise that the decisions we make are in the best interests of the party.

Q: Compared with 2013, what gives you confidence that you can beat Uhuru Kenyatta this time round?

RO: As much as some people use the 2013 election as a measure of Jubilee’s strength, the reality is that that tallying for the presidential result was flawed.

We accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court not because it was a fair outcome but in order to help nurture the spirit of constitutionalism, respect for court decisions and preservation of peace. But the IEBC has not even published the results of that election, five years down the line.

We will beat President Kenyatta by a much bigger margin this time that he will not fiddle with the outcome.

We are going to protect our vote. This is the difference from 2013, plus the fact that many enough people who voted for Uhuru in 2013 have realized what a monumental mistake it was and have rallied behind Nasa.

Q: Name the leaders across the world who have inspired you in your political career.

RO: I have spoken many times about this. I always single out Nelson Mandela for his steadfast and unrelenting fight against Apartheid and his willingness to die for what he believed in for the sake of his people.

For that, Mandela remains my all-time hero. But I have also been inspired a lot by Dr Mahathir Mohamad former prime minister of Malaysia, who is described as the father of modern Malaysia. 

He took over an economy that was struggling. Within a short time of his tenure, Malaysia experienced a period of rapid modernisation and economic growth. That is something I dream of doing for Kenya.

I like too Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania. His economic policies may have failed. But Nyerere built a strong, united nation out of a multiplicity of ethnic groups, something we have not been able to achieve in Kenya.

Q: What would be your priorities when forming government?

RO: Our first priority is food. The immediate priority is to ensure adequate supply of food because the production outlook for this year is not good as farmers are struggling to recover from income shocks caused by drought, pests, diseases, bad fertilizers and lack of credit among other problems.

Second, to restore fiscal discipline and sound economic management.

Third, to implement our flagship social investment initiatives namely, the free secondary education and Universal Health Coverage.

Q: You have accused President Kenyatta of overborrowing, how do you intend to deal with this and mobilise resources to run your government?

RO: What we have said about our debt is not an accusation, it is a statement of fact. The Jubilee administration has doubled our national debt in four and a half years, and that is a national record.

So far, we have not seen any returns. Economic growth has not accelerated as it should if you are making high return investments. Job creation has not increased either. Instead, we are reading Kenyans are being laid off every day. The cost of living has skyrocketed.

When in a hole, you should stop digging so the first thing we are going to is to stop the reckless borrowing. 

Our revenue base is quite strong, it is enough to run government is spent prudently. I warned three years ago that the Jubilee administration was spending money like drunken sailors. We expect to make considerable saving by stopping Jubilee’s wasteful spending.

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