KENYA: Opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday wrapped up his tour of Vihiga County with a clarion call for battle.
He said it was time to liberate the country from bad governance and asked the jubilant residents to give him one more chance to kick out the Jubilee government in next year's polls.
Raila is in the middle of a spirited campaign to maintain his grip on the region that voted for him in the face of a strong onslaught from the ruling Jubilee administration.
"You voted for me overwhelmingly, but you know what happened," he told the jubilant crowd at Luanda market.
The former prime minister was in Vihiga for the second day of his five-day tour to the Opposition stronghold.
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The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader took a swipe at Jubilee which he accused of dividing the country along tribal lines.
Brushing off the recent cases of rebellion from a section of leaders in the region, Raila asked Kenyans to brace themselves for a third liberation movement.
"If we managed to fight the last two liberation wars and won, this one will not be an exceptional," he said.
He said Kenyans still have no access to good health care, infrastructure, good road network, and water and quality education. He said the public debt has soared to dizzying heights.
On his second day in the region, Raila was joined by governors Sospeter Ojaamong (Busia), Cornel Rasanga (Siaya) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega).
Emuhaya MP Wilbur Ottichillo and his Luanda counterpart Chris Omulele vowed to stay put in ODM to help it realise its vision for a better and all inclusive Kenya.
The former premier also assured the region that CORD was intact and promised to work with his co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang'ula to win next year's polls.
Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar, who accompanied Raila on the tour, urged the region to remain firm in CORD.
"They came with similar tricks being deployed here to divide us in Coast but we resisted and you must stand firm as a region for Raila to become the next President," he said.
The ODM leader will be heading today to Busia County, the backyard of two former party officials Ababu Namwamba and Paul Otuoma.
Raila will today hold a meeting with ODM delegates at Port Victoria in Namwamba's home and address a public rally in Otuoma's Funyula constituency.
