Handshake finished Raila Odinga’s political influence – city lawyer Ahmednassir

City lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has sensationally claimed that the truce between ODM leader and President Uhuru Kenyatta through the March 2018 Handshake has killed Raila’s political dominance.

In his latest media interview, the senior counsel while responding to a question on whether Raila can work with Deputy President William Ruto in the 2022 General Election, said the decline in the former prime minister’s popularity has made him an errand boy who cannot add value to the Hustlers camp.

“What will Raila bring to the table in a union with Ruto? He brings nothing. Raila is not the potent political force he was prior to the handshake. The handshake damaged him a lot he became a poodle and a stooge,” said Ahmednasir in a damning assessment of the ODM leader.

In March 2018, the Head of State extending an olive branch to the then-powerful opposition leader Raila Odinga where the duo put aside their political differences and agreed to work together.

This happened less than two months after Odinga had sworn himself in as the Peoples President claiming that Uhuru rigged the 2017 presidential elections.

Although the majority of Kenyans including DP William Ruto thought that the union between the two leaders who hated each other politically would give Raila an added advantage in his quest for the presidency, it is emerging the handshake did him more harm than good.

Prior to the handshake, Raila was considered a people’s defenderr, criticisng the government and putting it in check, something that endeared him to the masses.

Fast forward to now, he is considerd an extension of the government and as such cannot distance himself from the negativity most of his admirers have agains the government and Uhuru.

Critics and political analysts agree with Ahmednassir on the fact that Raila ruined his strong political reputation by associating himself with Uhuru, through the handshake.

Even then William Ruto still views Raila as his only main challenger for the presidency in 2022, without which he will easily become Kenya’s 5th president.

Two months ago, the DP in a televised interview dismissed the possibility of him working with Raila Odinga saying that the former prime minister was his main competitor in the 2022 presidential race.

“When I see Raila Odinga, I see a competitor. From where I sit, he is the most formidable competitor I have,

“If Raila will not be my competitor, then who will be my competitor? This is a battle between the hustler team and the ODM team,” DP Ruto said.