It has been three presidents, 20 years of Raila's failed handshakes

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga publicly reconcile after talks at Harambee House Nairobi on March 9, 2018. [PHOTO: WILLIS AWANDU]

Following the acrimonious 2017 General Election former Opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta opted for the much acclaimed 'handshake' which ushered in political calmness. It was one of three previous 'Handshakes' for Raila, since the one brokered by the late UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2008 and 20 years since another with retired President Daniel arap Moi in 1998. All the three 'Handshakes' followed General Elections which almost tore the country apart.

To get a glimpse of Raila's demands in all the handshakes, one has to get into a time capsule back to the first 'Handshake' in 1998 after the previous year's General Election. Kibaki, who came second, protested the outcome of the poll and took a petition to the Court of Appeal, which he lost on a technicality for not personally serving Moi.