President Uhuru Kenyatta returned the favor of attending ODM’s National Delegates Conference at Kasarani after Raila Odinga showed up at Jubilee’s at KICC.
The two leaders have been close and working with each other since the handshake in March 2018, a move that saw peace and tranquility prevail in the country.
As one of the speakers at the event ODM’s NDC, President Kenyatta talked about many issues including what BBI meant for Kenya, the handshake but above all heaped praises to his former political foe turned friend, the ODM leader.
First of all, the president said that Raila never asked for anything in return after uniting with president Kenyatta and supporting his work.
“Many said that we united so that Raila can get something . I just want one person to stand up and say what Raila has gotten from me since the handshake aside from staying with me and discussing with me on how we can live in peace as a country so that developments can go on,” the head of state said.
President Kenyatta acknowledged that Raila’s support saw Jubilee achieve more development works compared to his first term in office.
“Others said that since Raila came(in government) Jubilee’s work was stopped. I want to say that all that we have done together with my old man(Raila) in these 4 years is much more than what we did on our first term,” Kenyatta said
He further said that at no point did Raila ever indicate that he was the most suitable person to take up from him.
“Many do not know the number of trips we’ve made with honorable Raila in and out of the country, the discussions we have had with elders from different communities in search of peace and development. All those times we were not seen on TV. We walked alone. At all that time there is no moment that Raila showed flattery but his intention was for the work to get done.
Kenyatta also referred to Raila Odinga as a leader and not just a mere politician like those who have been opposing everything that the government has been doing. He added that Odinga is a wise person and he has consulted him from time to time with his administration issues and solutions were easily found.
President Kenyatta added Raila is not a man of war, because he set his personal interests aside for the sake of the nation.
“There are those saying that Raila is a man of war. Let me tell you, it is not Raila who is a man of war because if he was a man of war, he would have resisted any attempt at peace between him and president Kibaki or making the handshake happen. What creates violence is the system of ‘winner take all’, and having certain communities feeling like they have been left out of government, ” the president said.
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