Raila chairs private meeting with Governors from Central
If you haven’t watched or don’t have the time to watch Raila’s interview with KTN’s Tony Gachoka, I have taken the time to provide the following detailed report of what the handshake co-principal said in this wide-ranging interview to Kenyans in general, but more so to our brothers and sisters in Mt. Kenya region.
In sum, this was a message from Raila to Mt. Kenya folk reminding them BBI is not about him, but about the future of our country. Raila also spoke about ridding our society of hatred and instead learning to forgive one another, especially forgiving those who have wronged us much as Mandela forgave De Clerk and other tormenters and ditto as Raila forgave the late Mzee Moi.
It’s a long report so here are key parts of it, the full report follows.
Raila started off by saying people are obsessed with 2022, but Uhuru and he are focused the Big 4 agenda and making sure BBI is thoroughly examined and then a decision made on the way forward.
Kenya is bigger than 2022; the elections of 2022 will be an event that will come and go.
BBI will be there for ages to come once implemented and becomes law.
For those saying Raila is disrupting Jubilee, that’s just not true because he is not a member of the party, he does not attend their meetings and has his own party to run.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila shook hands because they agree on the way forward as a nation, especially in addressing serious problems that have crippled the country for decades.
The BBI Report is 200 pages; nobody is going to read it in the rural areas and thus the need to hold these conferences, followed by rallies in the regions this is being done.
These are all serious issues affecting each respective region and the affected communities are getting the opportunity to air them.
The process must go on to its logical conclusion and that is the next phase after the conferences and rallies end.
It is also the reason Raila says you can’t stop the Reggae.
Raila made a point to emphasize one can’t control what people have to say once given the opportunity to speak. The man with no shortage of humor noted the Latin expression “in vino veritas,” which means “in wine there’s truth” might help explain some of the objectionable things said at some of the rallies.
Raila said he feels sorry about those people who talk about dynasties because they do so out of ignorance as we have no dynasties in the country.
A dynasty means a system where power is handed down to younger generations on hereditary basis, meaning, following a bloodline.
That has never happened in Kenya and there’s no system or basis for it to happen.
Talking about hustlers, Raila said it’s in the public domain that in 1936, Moi was given a cow to take 100 km to sell in order to pay for school fees and he did that—that’s the original hustler, not the chopper hoping hustlers of today dishing looted money.
Moi came from being a teacher to LEGCO, to being president all by dint of his determined efforts and humility.
Now the hustlers are people who have become billionaires within a short period of time and don’t want you to ask how come but we all know how, said Raila.
Raila noted the cancer of corruption is eating at the fabric of the nation and it is something we must cure.
He wants Ruto to be part of this fight against corruption, rather than being against it while running around the country with bags and bags of money as a Christian.
That’s hogwash, declared Raila.
The interview came to a close with Raila noting it would be nice to have Uhuru at the Meru rally but all is good because the president is on board with him going to the region that is his backyard and it is the president who invited him to go there.
And now the FULL report:
Raila started off by saying people are obsessed with 2022, but Uhuru and he are focused the Big 4 agenda and making sure BBI is thoroughly examined and then a decision made on the way forward.
Kenya is bigger than 2022; the elections of 2022 will be an event that will come and go.
BBI will be there for ages to come once implemented and becomes law.
For those saying Raila is disrupting Jubilee, that’s just not true because he is not a member of the party, he does not attend their meetings and has his own party to run.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila shook hands because they agree on the way forward as a nation, especially in addressing serious problems that have crippled the country for decades.
There are those who are opposing BBI for the sake of opposing.
BBI has not even reached a stage of asking what needs to be done with it; right now, it’s simply an opportunity for Kenyans to air their views on it.
This is a broad discussion of the way forward.
The rallies are tail ends; before each rally, leaders from the region hold a conference to discuss and capture information from participants representing stake holders from the region.
That information is then put into a resolution, which is in turn put into an MoU.
Going to the rally is to obtain ownership of the MoU.
The BBI Report is 200 pages; nobody is going to read it in the rural areas and thus the need to hold these conferences, followed by rallies in the regions this is being done.
As for those seeing mischief in the regional approach, there is no such a thing as mischief or anything other than an effective manner to ensure maximum participation by the public in the deliberative process.
Kenya has regions; you cannot bring people from all of them together in one place and say let’s have a conversation.
That’s why a decision was made to hold regional conferences and rallies.
Each community in the region comes with their concerns, which are duly registered.
For example, in Kisii, the issues raised were about revenue sharing in devolved units, governance, and agriculture. In Kakamega, collapsed industries and economic growth topped the list. In Coast, issue of absentee landlord is big, minerals extraction and benefits to local communities is another big issue, ditto several others that were addressed during the conference and rally there.
In Ukambani issues of draught, hunger and agriculture were dominant.
In Narok historic injustices, land (pastoralism) and education were the dominant issues while in Garissa, education and security were dominant.
These are all serious issues affecting each respective region and the affected communities are getting the opportunity to air them.
The process must go on to its logical conclusion and that is the next phase after the conferences and rallies end.
It is also the reason Raila says you can’t stop the Reggae.
Asked if this message is aimed at Ruto, Raila said not so; Ruto is only one of 47 million Kenyans therefore nothing special about him.
This is a song intended to convey the message to all Kenyans BBI is a train moving to a destination and cannot be stopped on the way.
Raila noted Ruto was first for BBI, now he is opposed.
Asked if it was his plan all along to take BBI nationwide, Raila said there was a taskforce that was formed to address 9 points he and the president agreed must be addressed.
These 9 points must be addressed by the people, not just those in the taskforce.
The taskforce did just that by going and collecting views across the country and handed over the report to the president and Raila at the Bomas of Kenya.
Next step after Bomas was to isolate the issues and determine which needed only administrative action, which needed parliamentary action with presidential assent an which ones require amending the constitution.
This is the step we are in, and the conferences and rallies are designed to collect the needed feedback from the people.
The Steering Committee for BBI is holding townhall meetings where those not coming to rallies can go express their views.
Those not going to the forums have the option to go to the rallies.
Before each rally, there is a delegates meeting at a conference for the region to discuss and prepare an MoU with the help of Steering Committee members who attend the conference.
The MoU is prepared from resolutions of the Conference.
The MoU is then handed over to member of the Steering Committee.
The first thing that is done at each rally, is reading of the resolutions.
After reading the resolutions, the question is put to the crowd and the yeas and nays are taken and a declaration made as to who has the winning vote.
People are then given the opportunity to speak about the resolutions and whatever else that is in their minds.
It is important that people air what is bothering them.
Raila made a point to emphasize one can’t control what people have to say once given the opportunity to speak. The man with no shortage of humor noted the Latin expression “in vino veritas,” which means “in wine there’s truth” might help explain some of the objectionable things said at some of the rallies.
Raila expounded on the phenomenon noting someone would say something mean or hurtful to someone they love in a state of drunkenness and when the alcohol is gone from their bodies, they deny having said or seek forgiveness by the one hurt takes that to be the truth regardless of the excuse or apology because they were saying them from their unguarded conscience.
In the rallies’ context, people get excited by cheering crowds to say things that shouldn’t be said in public akin to someone saying things in the state of drunkenness.
Asked how he feels about those calling him and Uhuru as dynasties that must fall, Raila said ignorance is a disease.
Raila said he feels sorry about those people who talk about dynasties because they do so out of ignorance as we have no dynasties in the country.
A dynasty means a system where power is handed down to younger generations on hereditary basis, meaning, following a bloodline.
That has never happened in Kenya and there’s no system or basis for it to happen.
Instead, we have had leaders who have suffered in their quest to liberate our people and take power from those who did not want to give it up.
Jomo Kenyatta was a meter reader before he went to study abroad and later became leader of the struggle for independence.
He was jailed for 9 years.
He did not inherit power from anyone, let alone a family member.
Jaramogi came from a very poor background and struggled to provide for his family.
Raila has fought his own wars trying to liberate the people of Kenya and nothing has been handed down to him from anyone.
Kenyatta died in 1978 when Uhuru was a small boy and he (Uhuru) did not inherit the presidency, which would have been the case were this a dynasty.
Ditto the Odinga family; Raila did not inherit any hereditary power from Jaramogi when the latter died, so there’s no dynastic relationship to speak of other than by the ignorant.
Reminded that none other than DP William Ruto himself has said Uhuru and Raila are dynasties, and that only he is the hustler. Raila said the first hustler in Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta, then Jaramogi and a long list of other true hustlers, including the late former President Mzee Daniel Arap Moi.
Asked if he is afraid of the “Hustler nation,” Raila said he is part and parcel of the hustler nation, if there is one.
This is because he has been fighting for the liberation of the country from the bonds of bad governance, impunity and corruption.
Raila said this without noting the dear price he has paid along the way in this fight, so the interviewer Tony Gachoka asked what makes Raila Odinga not bitter and not wanting to talk about his incarceration.
Gachoka contrasted that to those in the courts seeking compensation for all manner of abuses thy suffered in past regimes.
Raila responded noting fighting for freedoms in the country is not a walk in the park.
There are people who have died fighting.
There are people who have been tortured and died.
Raila said Mandela came out of prison after 27 years and decided to embrace Dr. De Clerk because he decided that was the best way forward.
This is a good example to emulate by those who have been incarcerated like Raila for their involvement in struggles to liberate a country.
Asked why most of Central Kenya does not recognize or care about Raila’s fighting for the freedoms we enjoy today, including them, and instead using Raila to fight Uhuru, Raila said there will always be people who are misguided and bent on pulling people in different directions because of ignorance.
Raila said people have suffered greatly, many to death in 1992, 1997, 2007, 2013 and lately in 2017 all because of bad elections.
Why do people have to die? Pondered Raila.
Yes, Uhuru and Raila had the handshake but we can’t sweep all these atrocities under the carpet; rather, we must find a lasting solution because if you don’t, someone else will do the same thing and result in more bloodshed, destruction of property and deaths.
This is what BBI is intended to do, namely, find a lasting solution to these ills that have been persistent in the country for decades.
For example, we need to end marginalization and exploitation of communities such as the Maas who in Kenya who have suffered historic injustices than their brothers and sisters in Tanzani who feel more included in their country than those in Kenya do about our country.
Asked why there’s a misconception of bad blood between Luos and MT Kenya and Kikuyus specifically, Raila said this misconception is misplaced because Jaramogi stood and fought for Jomo Kenyatta’s release and when given the opportunity to take over and become our country’s leader instead of Kenyatta, Jaramogi declined, saying Kenyatta must be released first and he should be the one leading independent Kenya.
Jaramogi did that knowing Kenyatta was a Kikuyu and that was of no issue or concern.
When Raila said Kibaki tosha in 2002, he, too, knew Kibaki was Kikuyu and this was not of any concern or issue so this talk about bad blood between Luos and Kikuyus is something wholly made up by those who thrive in creating divisions and hatred for nothing.
Raila noted even long before he said Kibaki tosha, he had worked very closely with the late Kenneth Matiba in agitating for reforms back in 1992 and they were both arrested and taken into detention and its after this arrest that Matiba fatally suffered and never to fully recover to the day he died 2 years ago.
When Kibaki was injured, Raila said the campaign must go on and it did with him campaigning as vigorously for Kibaki to the point he earned the nickname “Muthogoria njamba.”
Asked whether he was afraid going to Mt. Kenya region as there are those saying he will not be allowed in the region, Raila brushed such threats off as empty talk, noting he was in Murang’a only last week and he was well received.
The man of parables and riddles said “Ngurumo ya chura haiwezi kuzuia ngombe kunywa maji” (a frog’s ribbiting cannot prevent a cow from drinking water,” meaning in this case all those making noise in Mt. Kenya region about Raila will not prevent him going there.
Raila said he’s muthoniwa going to visit his friends.
So, he is not afraid at all about the visit.
Asked what he talked about with the Mt. Kenya governors who paid him a visit at his offices on Upper Hill, Raila said they discussed issues affecting the Mt. Kenya region, which has about 10 counties, stretching from Nakuru to Tharaka Nthi.
He said the issues that are dominant in the region are education, farming and security
The governors invited him and will welcome him as their guest this Saturday and he looks forward to the visit.
Gachoka noted BBI has been joined by politicians from across the country and Raila noted this was expected as the process is akin to repeated mitosis in biology where a cell subdivides into many. Support for BBI is organically growing and spreading across the country because more and more people now understand what it is.
Many of these are Kenyans who have been wondering how things are ever going to change, having seen circle after circle of the same divisive, bloody and deadly elections and ills that remain unaddressed more than 50 years after independence.
Some of these people were about to give up but now having understood what BBI is all about, they are embracing it as our only solution to all these ills.
For example, some of these people had no opportunity at all to get a job, and if they did, they were denied simply because they come from a tribe that jobs were not availed for that tribe.
This is one of the ills BBI will fix as inclusivity is a big part of the proposed solutions.
Opportunity to do business and security is a big issue, especially in NEP where children are going to school and there are no teachers.
Raila said though not all counties have been visited in this phase of the process, more than 30 counties have already signed on as supporting BBI.
Raila said after Meru, next conferences and rallies will be Nakuru, then Isiolo, then Nyeri, then Eldoret, then finally Nairobi to bring BBI closer to home.
The idea is to cover all parts of the country and be as inclusive as possible.
As to those whining that have a restructured Executive will add to an already bloated government, Raila said the proposal is to have a Prime Minister and 2 deputies with a reduced cabinet so, you’re not adding on the expenditure.
Asked why he believes in people driven process, Raila said because ultimately governance is about people.
You need to know what the people want and what’s going on now is precisely that so when the process is done, the people will get what they want.
Raila spoke of how there was once before another handshake before the current one that shook the political landscape, that one involving Moi.
Raila said the country needed to start constitutional review to change the old constitution which was bad but the government could not get this done alone, neither would the opposition get it done alone so he and Moi agreed to shake hands and work together to get this done, and that is exactly what happened.
What Raila calls the “politics of cooperation” enabled the country to start a constitutional review process with Yash Gal Pal chairing the Committee of Experts that guided us through the process.
Asked if Ruto has a lock on Rift Valley votes no matter what, Raila said he still has many friends in the region working with him on the success of BBI notwithstanding the support Ruto has on account of blood is thicker than water.
He said many of those in Ruto camp are immature and, in a hurry to get to 2022 not understanding we can’t get to 2022 before we have BBI in place.
Raila said he has many friends in the region including governors of several counties such as Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Narok and Kajiado.
Governors of all these counties are with him and Uhuru in supporting BBI.
Asked if Kikuyus and other “foreigners” in Rift Valley should be concerned or worried were Raila to become president, the AU High Representative for Infrastructure and handshake co-principal said in the heart of hearts, everyone knows there is nothing to be worried or concerned about him becoming president.
He’s a unifier and all he has ever wanted is a progressive Kenya where Kenya can live happily and enjoy these freedoms he and others have sacrificed to achieve.
Gachoka then asked Raila about his relationship with Senator Moses Wetan’gula who he said had once promised to teach Raila a lesson after the handshake, specifically, Gachoka wanted to know whether the two men had forgiven each other.
Raila resonded saying there was nothing to forgive because they never wronged each other and noted the two still talk to each other.
As to the other NASA co-principals, Raila said he has a cordial relationship with Kalonzo
He said Musalia just has certain concerns which he expresses but this is not the right way to express them. He says specifically Musalia seems to have issues with the national debt but he fails to note there was a where control systems collapsed, especially since ICC and put us on the path we’re on but this will be fixed in due time.
Asked about his relationship with Charity N’gilu, Kitui Governor, Raila said the two indeed have a long history working together and this is still the case.
Raila noted Ukambani is behind BBI as all governors from there are on board and so is Kalonzo who has not been in the BBi rallies owing to understandable conflicts of schedule but has sent his message of support and greetings through Raila.
He said he’s working with Mutua and Kibwana alongside Ngilu to make sure BBI maintains the solid support in Ukambani and to see it through implementation.
Raila said same thing is happening in Central where the leaders there led by Governor Ann Waiguru are spearheading efforts to popularize BBI.
So, Mt Kenya is next to come onboard with BBI despite noise makers there.
The BBI brigade is starting with Meru and then eventually Nyeri in making sure the people of Mt. Kenya fully understand what BBI is about.
As the interview was winding down, Gachoka revisited the question of why Raila is not bitter or otherwise staying clear of talking about his suffering and incarceration for fighting for Kenyans.
Raila responded saying life is short; you can’t change the past but you can correct the future. The man who accepted nusu mkate that turned out not to be to bring peace in Kenya in 2008 said harboring hatred and seeking revenge for those who have wronged you doesn’t help but makes things even worse.
When one is in detention for as any period of time, let alone years, it is easy to hate and seek revenge given the opportunity but he doesn’t believe in that, citing the example of Nelson Mandela who was incarcerated for 27 years yet he forgave those who incarcerated and tormented him.
Raila said in the same spirit, he and the Odinga family forgave Moi.
For his turn, Moi attended his (Raila) children’s weddings.
Raila said he visited Moi twice when he was ailing and on one of the occasions, Moi told Raila he still has a cow he had promised Jr at his wedding.
Talking about hustler, Raila said it’s in the public domain that in 1936, Moi was given a cow to take 100 km to sell in order to pay for school fees and he did that—that’s the original hustler, not the chopper hoping hustlers of today dishing looted money.
Moi came from being a teacher to LEGCO, to being president all by dint of his determined efforts and humility.
Now the hustlers are people who have become billionaires within a short period of time and don’t want you to ask how come but we all know how, said Raila.
In the same vein, fact that Gideon is Moi’s son cannot prevent or hinder him from vying for any top office that may be available upon BBI implementation.
Moi retired 18 years ago and is now dead, so this is not the dynasty nonsense Ruto and his supporters have attempted to peddle but have failed to get traction with it because it is a false notion.
Noting Ruto has said he’s ready to fight Raila politically, Gachoka asked Raila whether he is ready to fight Ruto or or whether he fears the man.
Raila responded he doesn’t want to fight people at his age.
He reminded Gachoka and viewers that he recruited and brought Ruto to ODM where he honed his political skills, which he now wants to use to fight Raila but Raila is not interested as he is focused on more important things such as BBI implementation.
Raila noted the cancer of corruption is eating at the fabric of the nation and it is something we must cure.
He wants Ruto to be part of this fight against corruption, rather than being against it while running around the country with bags and bags of money as a Christian.
That’s hogwash, declared Raila.
The interview came to a close with Raila noting it would be nice to have Uhuru at the Meru rally but all is good because the president is on board with him going to the region that is his backyard and it is the president who invited him to go there.
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