Raila Meets Archbishop Of Canterbury In London For Spiritual Guidance

Raila Meets Archbishop of Canterbury in London…Kenya’s opposition leader and NASA presidential candidate Mr. Raila Odinga arrived in London on Thursday morning ahead of today’s forum where he is expected to speak on the political situation in Kenya and his decision to quit the presidential race.

See Also: Raila Odinga Leaves For London: Everything You Need To Know

Mr. Raila Odinga landed in London on Thursday morning and straight away Mr. Raila meets Archbishop of Canterbury the man who seats at the helm of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby and later with Lord Mark Malloch Brown, a former British minister of African Affairs.

The two held a short prayer at Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s official residence before holding formal talks.

However, the details of their talks have not been disclosed but the NASA leader after their discussion wrote a post on his Facebook page that reads:

“Spiritual guidance is of utmost importance at this juncture in our nation’s history. I value greatly the wise counsel that Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and the principal leader of the Anglican Church, imparted when I paid a courtesy call on him this morning,”

The meeting with Welby comes only a week after he met with the Anglican Bishops in Kenya led by Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit.

Read Also: Raila Odinga Aounces His Withdrawal From Presidential Race

AN OVERVIEW OF Mr. RAILA ODINGA’s MISSION TO LONDON

The withdrawal of NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga from the upcoming election raises major political and constitutional challenges for Kenya. It is currently unclear if there will be an election on 26 October, or if a new election cycle will be set in motion, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 138 of the Constitution in 2013.

However, BuzzKenya gathered from Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs London that the NASA leader was invited to a Democracy forum scheduled to hold October 13 at Chatham House in London.

The theme for the forum is ‘Kenya’s Next Test; Democracy, Elections and the Rule of Law Research.’

During the forum, Mr. Raila Odinga will discuss his decision to withdraw from the Presidential race, the IEBC reforms he and the NASA coalition would like to see implemented, and how the next government can drive forward institutional reforms to strengthen Kenya’s democracy.

He left the country Wednesday night, a day after he wrote to IEBC withdrawing his candidature citing frustrations in his quest for poll reforms.

According to his spokesperson, Mr. Odinga is expected to return to the Country on Saturday after the forum.

Read: Kenya Govt Bans Opposition Demos In Major Cities

OPPOSITION REACTIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT BAN ON NASA DEMONSTRATIONS

Despite the current political situation in Kenya. The interior minister Fred Matiangi yesterday aounced the decision of the government to the ban on opposition protests going on the three major city centers across Kenya citing imminent danger and breach of peace as the reasons behind the ban.

The three major cities include Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu where the protests have taken a downturn on the peaceful atmosphere of these cities causing a rift between the opposition and the police.

However, the opposition has defiled the government order thereby making the ongoing protest to increase, about six children were among those who were injured during the demonstration.

Siaye Senator James Orengo while addressing the agitators at Uhuru park yesterday said that the opposition will stage demonstrations daily starting from next week until their request is granted.

More so, on the election date, the IEBC has said that the October 26 date set aside for the rerun of the presidential election is still intact and the withdrawal of the opposition leader from the race will not stop the election from being conducted.