Azimio leader Raila Odinga has claimed that he caused the change of venue for the signing of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024 into law.
Speaking in Butere, Kakamega County on Saturday, July 13, Raila asserted he got a notification for the exercise, which he claimed was to be held at State House, Nairobi.
However, the former Prime Minister maintained that he refused to go to the State House.
It was only when the venue was changed to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) that Raila claimed he agreed to go.
"The other day they sent me a message that the IEBC report passed by parliament will be signed by President William Ruto and they want me as Azimio co-principal to be there. They said it would be at State House. I said I'm not going to State House; it should be somewhere else. Then they said KICC and I agreed," Raila remarked.
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The ODM boss further claimed that it was Azimio co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka who convinced him to attend the event at KIC.
"I called Kalonzo; I told him they wanted me to go but he would lead our team. I told him to go with Opiyo Wandayi and I would stay aside. But Kalonzo insisted that I must be there," the former PM added.
Raila disclosed that during the meeting they discussed the current state of the nation and agreed to hold a forum with Kenyans, insisting that it was not a dialogue with the President.
"We spoke and said where Kenya is; we are in a bad place. things cannot continue like this. We said let's have a people's dialogue; not a dialogue with Mr. Ruto. It was a people's dialogue," the Azimio leader remarked.
Raila had on Tuesday last week welcomed President Ruto's move to form a multi-sectoral forum, a move that did not go down well with a section of Kenyans online.