Raila: Rivals mistaken to think I can be anyone’s puppet
Azimio la Umoja coalition Presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga says his opponents are under the mistaken impression that he can be a puppet if elected President.
The former Prime Minister laughed off arguments that he would be a puppet of outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, maintaining he is his own man and will therefore make his decisions and freely exercise his independent judgment in the day to day operation of government.
“Raila Odinga cannot be anyone’s puppet. I worked with President Uhuru Kenyatta before. When I was the Prime Minister, he was my deputy and we really worked well together,”
“We had controversy after the divisive 2017 elections when we both took an oath, we even resisted products from certain companies and at the same time there were street protests, the people were dying, and the country was in turmoil, and that is why we decided to meet and talk in order to find a lasting solution. We all agreed that Kenya was bigger than anyone of us,” Raila, who is in London, said during an interview with BBC on Tuesday night.
Asked whether he has promised President Kenyatta any position in his government if he was to win the August poll, Raila said; “He (President Kenyatta) will help us will advice. I will be consulting him just like we have been consulting each other (since the Handshake). He can also take up an international role like the one I hold at the African Union, there are many opportunities for him,”
He dismissed claims by his main opponent in August poll Deputy President William Ruto that his decision to close ranks with President Kenyatta killed the opposition.
Odinga said he has held no position in the Jubilee government since the handshake. He says the opposition has since decided to be pointing to a problem while offering solutions for them and not opposing government just for the sake of opposition.
“The truth is that there were numerous challenges before the handshake. President Kenyatta acknowledged that he had problems in his first term in office while still on good terms with his deputy. Corruption, for instance, had become a major concern within government,” said Raila
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