Raila advisers made him withdraw and now call him President

NASA leader Raila Odinga. /FILE

Tuesday is a very special day for all Kenyans and it is detestable for the National Super Alliance to purport to hold a parallel event on the same day.
It is clear on face value that the said meeting to be held in Nairobi when the swearing of President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect William Ruto is taking place is meant to embarrass the State and the people of Kenya.
While it is their constitutional right to hold the said prayers, it is also very important to take heed of what the police have advised. Tuesday will be a security intensity day, when the attention not only of Kenyans but also the entire world will be on our nation, therefore it will be morally wrong for the opposition to plan other events for the day purposely meant to provoke the police, who may respond by using force.
NASA should consider shelving their meeting to a later date when the police are less occupied with such weighty matters. And in any case, both the President and the Deputy President have invited the opposition to join them during their swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium.
It is time our leaders put aside their political differences and embrace peace and unity. What happened in the two concluded elections in which, unfortunately, NASA withdrew in the last one, was just but competition – and in any competition there must be a winner.
In their retreat that took place in Machakos county on Saturday, I have seen that NASA has asked its members of Parliament not to participate in the vetting of various nominees that might be forwarded to Parliament by the President and they also resolved that they will not recognize Uhuru and Ruto as President and Deputy President, respectively. As long as you do not have the instruments of power, you have not taken the oath of office in the presence of the Chief Justice, then all those other things they are purporting are just nonsense.
Another thing that the opposition needs to take note of is that they are in Parliament courtesy of their people. Raila should reconsider his team of advisers; of late they are doing a disservice to him, from telling him to withdraw from the presidential race to now lying to him that he is the President.