CORD Principal Moses Wetangula Reveals Why Raila Odinga Failed To Attend His Presidential Bid Launch

CORD Principal & Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula. PHOTO: COURTESY

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula has said he does not know why his Cord co-principal Raila Odinga missed his function.

Moses Wetangula, on Sunday, April 3, said he could not explain why his counterpart failed to show up for his presidential bid launch a day earlier.

“The rally was attended by CORD leaders, Raila had informed us that he would attend but he didn’t come, we don’t want to speculate why… I do not want to be a prophet of doom,” said Moses Wetangula as quoted by Citizen TV.

However, the Ford Kenya leader noted that Raila’s absence should not be seen as a sign of disunity in the coalition. He said that Cord would work together, “come what may”, to change the country.

On Friday, April 1, Raila told journalists that he would attend the event as that was what had been resolved by a Cord coalition management board meeting that was held at his office two days earlier. Cord co-principals Moses Wetangula and Kalonzo Musyoka were both at the meeting. Most ODM MPs were also absent in the launch as well.

Kalonzo attended the Wetangula function at Muliro Gardens in Kakamega county as had been agreed. Kalonzo, like all present, had to withstand tear gas following the violence that momentarily halted proceedings at Muliro Gardens.

Cord accused the Jubilee administration of perpetrating the violence. In a statement by CORD Secretariat Chief Executive Officer Norman Magaya, Jubilee brought in security agencies in plain clothes to disrupt the otherwise peaceful event to portray a negative picture that the coalition is breaking ahead of the 2017 election.

“We have every reason to believe this was the work of security agencies in plain clothes whose key agenda was to harm the coalition leadership and disrupt a peaceful rally. The police must explain with precision why a teargas canister would be lobbed at the main Dias where the coalition leadership was seated,” the statement read in part.

According to the opposition coalition, this is one of the many schemes Uhuru Kenyatta’s coalition is employing to create disunity among CORD members and its supporters.