

Former Nyali MP Hezron Awiti Bolo
has said Mombasa politics will never be the same again, following the death of
former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Awiti, who said Raila mentored him
into politics, said the Luo nation will struggle to get a fitting replacement.
He, however, urged Luos to remain
united in honour of the legacy of Raila.
“Raila trained so many people. He
mentored us. After the burial, there will be a lot of changes. But we will
remain united because of his legacy.
“There will be a lot of struggles
after his death but the Luo nation will not split. It will remain united,”
Awiti said.
He said Raila was always against a
military rule, saying Kenya cannot afford it.
Awiti said he first met Raila at a
Mombasa hotel more than 40 years ago when Jaramogi Oginga Odinga them.
“It was at Outrigger Hotel in
Ganjoni. His father was a very good friend of mine and I did some jobs for him.
So one evening after work, he came with Siaya Governor James Orengo and his
father introduced him to me,” he said.
At the time, Awiti was about 25
years old and was working as an intelligence officer for former powerful PS
Hezekiah Oyugi.
He said Raila struck him as someone
he could work with because he spoke with passion about human rights and
democracy, at a time when the Moi regime was tightening its noose after the
failed 1982 coup.
“I hated politics at that time
because you could not speak your mind out. I had decided I would just do my
business in peace devoid of all the political noise around,” Awiti told the
Star.
He hated politics so much so that
he had cautioned his workers against engaging in any political talk at work.
“I had a big poster in my office
written ‘Simba but no politics’,” Awiti said.
However, a deep conversation with
Raila, with whom they had struck a unique bond, changed all that when he
visited his office.
“He told me, ‘Yes, you are Simba in business,
but without politics, you will not be able to do business. Business goes with
politics because politics makes policies’,” Awiti recalled.
This bond grew and they would meet
at Awiti’s Mamba Village establishment in Mombasa regularly for catch up.
At this time, Kanu regime was
cracking down on people perceived to be against its establishment and Raila was
one of the marked men.
A strange visit in the wee hours of
the morning one day jolted him and made him realise just how cruel the regime
could be.
“Former minister Nicholas Biwott
surprised me with a visit very early in the morning at my house in Nyali. He
was in the company of about five armed men and it was the first time I met
Biwott personally,” Awiti said.
“He asked me where Raila was. I was
picked and driven to State House Mombasa then taken to the President’s office. At
that time, I knew I was not going to go back home. I knew I was a dead man,” he
said.
He was first questioned by security
men on the whereabouts of Raila and when he did not divulge any information
they wanted, they sent him to meet Moi himself.
“I told them Raila was my relative
and friend and we just catch up at Mamba Village whenever he comes to Mombasa.
I can’t stop him from visiting me,” Awiti told Moi then.
“He is my customer who buys drinks
for us or I buy drinks for him but I have never gone with him to any political
rally.”
He said the interrogation lasted
more than nine hours, from around 5am to about 2pm when he was released with a
threat to find out where Raila was and report to them or inform him that he was
wanted by Moi or face dire consequences.
At this time, they had taken his
handset and so he could not communicate with Raila.
“I told them I knew his number but
not off head and that I needed the phone to contact him,” Awiti recalls.
After his release, he contacted
Raila and explained the ordeal to him and that the President wanted to see him
immediately.
“What he told me shocked me and
sent chills down my spine. He told me he will not go to meet Moi and will not
talk to anybody other than wananchi. He said if they wanted him they knew where
to find him.
“Here I was, fearing for my life
and Raila was making it even worse for me,” Awit said laughing.
Biwott, Awiti said, had told him to
inform Raila that he was going to be offered a Prime Minister position, but
Raila dismissed it saying Biwott had no authority to do that.
He said since then he had been
bosom buddies with Raila who had assured him he would not be killed because of
his association with Raila.
Awiti, together with former Mombasa
councilor the late Okoth Waudi, became Raila’s men in Mombasa and the Coast,
coordinating things for him and campaigning for his election during
electioneering years.
Raila valued his and Waudi’s
courage to openly associate with him at a time when people feared because of
repercussions from the Moi regime.
“It was not easy. I was attacked in
my office and had one of my bodyguards shot dead. I escaped death that time. I
was frequently attacked even during the Kibaki time,” he said.
Raila told Awiti to stand alone and
make his own name and not depend on Raila.
“We worked together, popularised
ODM in Mombasa and at the Coast. When I expressed interest in becoming Nyali
MP, he encouraged me,” he said.
He however quit ODM when he got
intelligence there was a plan to rig him out of nominations.
“I consulted Raila and he was the
one who encouraged me to join Wiper. That day we were with him and Mama Ida in
his PM office. In fact he called Kalonzo and asked him to make sure I got the
Wiper certificate to vie for Nyali,” Awiti revealed.
He won the Nyali MP seat through Wiper
in 2013.
“He mentored me in politics and in
business,” Awiti said.
About a month ago, Awiti said, he
talked with Raila and the enigma asked him to be ready to either merge his VDP
party with ODM or work together.
Awiti had asked Raila to find a
place for him in government.
“He told me ‘Awiti, ODM is big and
there are few slots. There are things you have to sacrifice to get. Since you
are not in my party, you can’t get it. I have to give my party people first,’”
the former MP said.
He said Raila proposed a chairman
position of some parastatal but he refused saying it was too small for him.
Awiti said he cannot also run for
MP again because it would interfere with his business operations.
“We cracked a joke saying he was a
party leader and I was a party leader, so when he is to give me a cake it had
to be a big cake,” Awiti said laughing.
They had arranged for a meeting in
Mombasa.
“Raila is not dead. His body may be
dead, but his spirit is alive,” Awiti said.