Details have emerged that National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader Raila Odinga left Kenya for Tanzania’s coveted Zanzibar Islands.
Mr Odinga’s advisor Mr Salim Lome raveled to the Sunday Times that the former Premier had opted not be in the country during the deliberation by the Supreme Court over the legitimacy of President Uhuru Kenyatta after the highly protracted October 26 polls.
“The unrest pushed Mr Odinga out of the country. He left Kenya on Sunday night. He is in Zanzibar, off the coast of mainland Tanzania,” Mr Lome told the New York Times on Sunday.
Hours after the Supreme Court brief ruling to uphold the reelection of Mr Kenyatta, pockets of violence ion Mr Odinga strongholds, have been witnessed, with his supporters urging him to speak out on the way forward.
Earlier, through Mr Lome, Nasa leader Mr Raila Odinga questioned the urgency with which the Supreme Court made its unanimous decision, with all the six judges who sat on the bench, upholding the October 26 polls. Mr Odinga, however, castigated the decision saying the Court acted under duress.
“We in NASA had repeatedly declared before this Supreme Court ruling today (November 20) that we consider this government to be illegitimate and do not recognize it. This position has not been changed by the Court ruling,” Mr Odinga said through his aide on Monday minutes after the ruling.
He added: “we do not condemn the Court; we sympathize with it, (because) it was a decision taken under duress” quipping that already the Supreme Court verdict was foreseen.
