During the swearing-in ceremony of the new ODM National Election Board on Thursday at Orange House, Nairobi Raila Odinga was waded into the debate on the ‘deep state’. following claims by his political rival Deputy President William Ruto that he is ready to face it in the next general elections.
Earlier this week, William Ruto dares the ‘system’ to face him saying he will go to the polls with “God and a majority of Kenyans” to back what he termed as an unstoppable presidential campaign.
“I just want to tell them: ‘We’re waiting for you’. This system, this deep state we are being told about, we are waiting for it,” the DP said.
But speaking when he witnessed the swearing-in of newly appointed officials of his party’s National Elections Board (NEB) and the Disciplinary Committee on Thursday, Raila said the presidency which Ruto is part of, remains the center of power in the country.
“We have a president whose name you know and a deputy whose name you also know. So when you are talking about the deep state, then who is there? It is the president and his deputy,” the ODM party leader said.
“So go and ask the deputy president which deep state he is talking about.”
Mr. Odinga added that his party, ODM is not in government and “we don’t know who the deep state is”.
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Mr. Odinga, however, urged that the purpose of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) should not be misconstructed, saying that the purpose of the initiative is to ensure Kenyans have and fair elections.
“BBI is meant to ensure no Kenyan’s blood is shed because of an election,” he said.