ODM leader Raila Odinga retold memories of the titanic 2002 General Election when he said Kibaki Tosha to endorse former President Mwai Kibaki.
During the Mashujaa day celebrations at Kirinyaga on October 20, Raila Odinga recalled how he made Mwai Kibaki accepted among the Luo community.
“When I said Kibaki Tosha they said Raila is finished politically, no luo can vote for a Kikuyu because of what happened to Tom Mboya and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga (Raila’s father who was betrayed by President Uhuru’s father and Kenya’s founding president,” he said.
Other than speaking on surrendering his presidential ambitions for the sake of Kibaki in 2002, Raila dismissed the popular narrative the Luos and Kikuyus are enemies.
“I went and told the Luos that there is no war between Kikiyus and Luos, it is my father (a Luo) who said that Jomo Kenyatta (a kikuyu) must be the leader of this country,
“Kibaki was a ‘son’ of Jaramogi, who took him to Makerere and made him the CEO of Kenya African National Union(KANU),” Raila said.
In a bid to appeal to the Kikuyu nation to also support him in the 2022 polls, Raila reminded Mt Kenya residents how he campaigned for Kibaki.
This has been termed as a strategy by Raila Odinga to woo the Mt Kenya region into supporting his presidency.
Political analyst Edward Kisiangani interpreted Raila Odinga’s Mashuja day speech, saying he meant that Kikuyus have a debt to pay him.
“In his Mashujaa Day speech today, former opposition leader- Raila Odinga-reminded the Mt Kenya people he had helped Kibaki to become President by mobilizing Luos to support a Kikuyu candidate.
What Raila was actually intimating was Mt Kenya had a debt to pay! Get it right!” Edward Kisiang’ani wrote in a tweet.
Getting the Mt Kenya vote has been seen as a hard task for Raila Odinga, with legislators from the region challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta to campaign for his handshake partner.
However, Raila Odinga has begun changing the narrative that a luo can not be accepted in the Mt Kenya region.
What started as discussions with businessmen from the Mt Kenya region has turned into massive rallies for Raila in the region.
While meeting Raila Odinga last month, the Mt Kenya foundation said they have been tasked by President Uhuru Kenyatta to find his suitable successor.
“This is the journey that we have started and once we are done we will go back to the President and tell him this is the person we want to succeed you,” said the Vice-chairperson of Mount Kenya Foundation.
Raila Odinga has also managed to have a number of Governors and MPs from the region behind him.
