President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM party leader Raila Odinga have disclosed that it took them 19 hrs to build bridges.
Speaking at Bomas of Kenya on Wednesday, Uhuru said their meet up was not an easy thing.
"Kukutana kwetu haikuwa kitu rahisi... tulikuwa na hofu... ilikuwa unajiuliza... huyu mtu tukikutana tutaambiana nini?" he said.
(Our meeting was not an easy one. We were worried. Everyone was asking themselves, What will we talk about when we meet?)
Uhuru said they drank tea for 45 minutes without uttering a word to each other at his office in Harambee House.
"Tulikunywa chai 45 minutes na hakuna mwenye alikuwa anaongea... ilikuwa tunauliza; habari ya nyumbani... habari ya mama.... wako tu.... habari ya watoto... wako sawa," he said.
(We took tea for 45 minutes and were not talking to each other. We were just asking each other questions about home, wives and the children)
"Hakuna maneno mengine ambayo yangeweza kutoka.. after one hour we then started discussions... we nearly slept there... tukimaliza tukasema tofauti zetu sio kubwa vile..."
(No words could come out of our mouths. we started discussions after an hour.....)
Raila who spoke before Uhuru said they had a 19 hour lengthy discussion before they agreed to work together.
"It took a long 19 hours to discuss this. After the long deliberations, we agreed among ourselves," he said.
Raila said they then called for legal advice from two lawyers.
"We then invited two lawyers to come and put these views that we had together... and we said we will have this conversation among us," he said.
In a rare show of unity on March 9,2018, Uhuru and Raila told Kenyans they had set their differences aside and would work to unite the public.
The two met at Harambee House before addressing the press. They neither specified their strategies nor took any questions.
Raila, who was first to speak, noted ethnic division came to an end today and that he and his 'brother' will bridge the existing gap.
Kenya has faced tumultuous times since the disputed August 8, 2017 presidential election, whose outcome Raila objected and termed Uhuru an illegitimate President.
