All eyes are on Raila Odinga.
On Saturday the NASA leader will announce the next big move in his resistance campaign. That's three days before President Uhuru Kenyatta's inauguration.
NASA members have sworn they will swear-in Raila as the People's President if Kenyatta is sworn in on Tuesday — and inaugurated Kenyatta will be.
The National Intelligence Service, however, has recommended that NASA leaders be arrested and charged with treason if Raila is sworn in.
Read:
Intelligence and police sources tell the Star the National Security Advisory Council met on Thursday and accepted the NIS recommendations.
Now it's up to the police.
NASA plans a Million Supporter March, rally and prayer session in Uhuru Park while Uhuru is being sworn in at Kasarani. The weatherman predicts heavy rain.
Adviser James Orengo and NASA members have said the former Prime Minister will be sworn in, but there's been no announcement. Some NASA members say the gesture would be too confrontational.
It is not clear whether Raila will be sworn in, and if he is, whether he will repeat the Oath of Office that Uhuru will take. Only if he repeats those exact words can he be charged with treason — if convicted, the penalty is death. If there's a different oath, it's a different story.
Further, Raila cannot be sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or the deputy CJ, as required by the Constitution, which clearly sets out conditions.
Also read:
Article 141 says, "The swearing in of the President-elect shall be in public before the Chief Justice, or in the absence of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice.
NASA’s gathering in the city in Inauguration Day could trigger a confrontation between opposition supporters and security forces.
There was a fierce, day-long confrontation when Raila returned form the US on November18
Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe said NASA will be breaking the law if they swear in Raila.
On Saturday Raila is to announce NASA's way forward during a rally at Mulu Mutisya Grounds in Machakos town.
NASA is expected to add more firms to its boycott list. Blacklisted so far are Safaricom, Bidco and Brookside Dairies. All are accused of being too close to Jubilee and Safaricom is said — without supporting evidence — to have participated in rigging the October 26 presidential rerun. It denies any wrongdoing.
On Saturday the opposition also is also expected to release a timetable for countrywide demonstrations to pile pressure for formation of a six-month transitional government to plan for free and fair elections.
As for the Tuesday rally, NASA is holding its cards close to the vest, especially on swearing in.
“Uhuru Kenyatta is not my President. If they try to swear him (Uhuru), we will also swear in Raila,” Suba South MP Millie Odhiambo said.
Read:
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, an organiser, told the Star the vents will include a "requiem mass" to recognise “compatriots who died in the line of the struggle”. He referred to those killed by the police and others during opposition protests since Uhuru was first proclaimed victor on August 11.
“If we don’t recognise our fallen comrades, that would be betrayal of their sacrifices in the struggle,” Opiyo said.
“This will be a prayer service but also a rally. I can't reveal anything now, a programme will be released by the secretariat.”
Saturday's announcements will be preceded by a council meeting at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos to review progress, agree on the course of action and progress in entrenching People's Assemblies in the counties.
Twelve of 19 pro-opposition or sympathetic county assemblies have already endorsed formation of People's Assemblies and repudiated Uhuru's victories on August 8 and October 26.
The Machakos meeting will be attended by all NASA governors and deputies, MPs, Speakers and Majority leaders of NASA-controlled assemblies.
Read:
Also read:
On Wednesday, the opposition chief returned from Zanzibar, Tanzania, and held meetings at his Capitol Hill offices with strategists and close allies late into Thursday night.
The Zanzibar visit threw security agencies into a spin, as they were suspicious of his intentions and but were unable to follow him.
On Friday, NASA principals — Raila, ANC's Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya's Moses Wetang'ula — received proposals for the next course of action.
“Today (Friday), they will receive
reports from the technical committee after which there will be a communication,” nominated MP Geoffrey Osotsi told the Star on the phone.
NASA events and demonstrations, most recently his return from the US, have been met by heavy-handed police resistance.
The opposition says police have killed at least 54 NASA supporters since Raila returned from from the US on Friday an overseas trip on November 18.
Police reject those numbers as wildly exaggerated and say protesters were violent.
Also read:
Anti-riot police battled thousands of NASA backers, who had turned up at JKIA to welcome Raila from the US, in ugly, day-long confrontations. NASA overwhelmed police and forced its way into the CBC amid clouds of teargas and gunfire.
On Friday NASA was compiling particulars of the 54 'victims' and there were reports that they would run obituaries in all the local dailies on Tuesday.
So far, the Star has learnt, the opposition secretariat has verified details of at least 21 deaths, which they attribute to police brutality.
“We hope to conclude the information by Sunday because we have most of the contacts for the affected families with us,” said a NASA official who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Read:
On Friday, Raila led NASA leaders at a fundraiser in Nairobi to meet funeral and medical expenses of the victims.
Raila says he beat Uhuru fair and square on August 8 and accused the electoral commission of conspiring with Jubilee to cheat him of victory.
“We will use August 8 results to swear in NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga if Uhuru
tries to use October 26 poll results to be sworn in,” Siaya Senator Orengo said last month.
It is not clear how NASA will use the August results, as the Supreme Court annulled the presidential vote as being riddled with irregularities illegalities.
Raila withdrew form the October 26 presidential rerun that Uhuru won by 989 per cent votes cast.
Read: