A month after Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta met at Harambee House and announced a national reconciliation on March 9, the opposition leader is on a roll.
Today Raila held talks with retired President Daniel arap Moi at his Kabarak Home. He was welcomed by the former president’s son Gideon who is also the Baringo Senator.
In his Twitter timeline Raila posted: “Baringo Senator Hon Gideon Moi and Nick Salat welcomed the delegation. Other leaders present included Hons Geoge Khaniri and Abduslwamad Sharrif Nassir.”
The political significance of the visit is not lost to observers given that Raila has more or less parted ways with co-principals in the National Super Alliance on whose ticket he vied for the presidency against Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Uhuru’s visit of Raila’s Nyanza stronghold is also on the cards, indicating Raila has changed his political game plan. Reports from Kabarak say the two-hour closed door meeting featured the former President and his son Senator Gideon Moi and Raila. They discussed issues touching on the state of the nation key among them unity. Raila wished the former president good health.
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In January calls for President Uhuru to hold dialogue with Opposition leader Raila dominated discussions at a special session to deliberate on the Kenyan political situation at the European Parliament.
Today’s Moi-Raila parley evokes memories of the high-stakes political game that saw Raila dissolve his National Development Party to join the Moi-led Kanu in 2002.
The move naturally caused intra-Kanu tectonic shifts after President made it clear that Uhuru Kenyatta was the party’s presidential candidate but not Raila, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka, Katana Ngala or his Vice President George Saitoti.
A rebellion led by Raila, then the party’s Secretary General, had the “spurned” Kanu presidential hopefuls throwing their lot together apart from Musalia Mudavadi who stuck to his filial imperatives with Kanu and became the shortest-serving Vice President in Kenya’s history.
Raila and Co. would join ranks with Mwai Kibaki, Charity Ngilu, Moody Awori and other political heavies to defeat Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2002 presidential election.
