NASA’s lawyer and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo on Tuesday
evening gave Pulse Live Kenya an elaborate explanation of how the
Opposition’s Resistance Movement will operate.
Mr. Amollo started by emphasizing that the National
Resistance Movement (NRM) was not a parallel Government highlighting that
it was against the law to form one.
“It is not a parallel Government, the constitution of Kenya
cannot allow us to establish a parallel Government. It is an avenue of having
honest, serious discussion with those who are willing both at the National
level and the county level," he said.
Speaking at Okoa Kenya offices, Amollo mentioned that NRM
will have a People’s Assembly aimed at discussing critical issues affecting the
Nation.
According to the lawyer, the said issues cannot be solved by
the Legislature and Executive because of the huge numbers of Jubilee leaders.
"The People’s Assembly is the occasion that will give
us the opportunity to discuss the things that we are not able to discuss as
elected Members of Parliament because of certain super Majorities by Jubilee
and the control of Parliament by the Executive.
“Under Article 37 of the Constitution, it grants Kenyans the
right to assemble. Therefore you can assemble at any time if you think that
there are certain issues that cannot and will not be addressed by the formal
institutions whether it is Parliament executive or Judiciary," the MP
stated.
The lawyer noted that NRM will involve members of the public
including religious organizations and civil society.
"It will give us the opportunity to discuss with the
religious organizations because there is no other forum for discussing with
them. It will also give us the opportunity to discuss with the civil
society," Amollo mentioned.
He added that the People's Assembly will also discuss on how
the Electoral Body in Kenya should be constituted to allow it hold free, fair
and credible elections.
“It will give us the formal opportunity to discuss on why we
never get our electoral circle right, what is it in the constitution that we
need to amend or deal with to get it right and how is it we are going to chart
our collective path in a way that it will give us greater cohesion and unity as
a country," the legislator remarked.
Amollo clarified that the Movement is not aimed at having
NASA leader Raila Odinga as the President of Kenya.
“The aim is actually not to have Raila Odinga declared the
President, the aim is to ultimately have a free, fair and credible election
where anybody can win and anybody can lose. But whoever wins can have
legitimacy and whoever loses will accept
“It is a parliament outside those formal institutions and it
will compromise those who were elected and are willing to have a discussion
beyond those chambers," the Rarieda MP noted.
He stated that NASA will agree on whether having the
discussion at a fixed place in Nairobi or for it to be rotational across the
country.
The lawyer, who was among the legal minds that won the
presidential petition of the August 8 General Election, divulged that a task
force will be formed to deliberate on how the People’s Assembly will work.
He added that the County Assemblies will be at the center of
the new formation highlighting that they will be representing the will of the
people.
"To call for the county assemblies to approve is also a
way of validating the exercise of the sovereign will of the people at the
county level. It means the population in that area are in agreement with the
aspiration of that assembly,” he mentioned.
