Our visit on Tuesday to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is not an endorsement of his presidential bid — if there is any.
The former Prime Minister has not declared whether he will run in 2022 or not. We cannot declare our support for somebody who has not asked for it. If Raila does run for President, we from the Meru region will consider his bid alongside those of other candidates. The election will not be about one presidential candidate.
The election will not make sense if we don’t entrench electoral justice and successfully deal with corruption. More candidates will come up and until we have that menu we can’t say we will vote for this or that.
Our agenda should be seen in the larger context as a vote of confidence in Raila's handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta. We met the opposition leader on Tuesday because we think he needs our unqualified support following his statesmanlike act to embrace the President and set the country on the path of prosperity.
We believe Raila’s support for the President is key in achieving the Big Four and fighting graft. It's obviously necessary to support the handshake so we can create an environment enabling economic growth and advancing social justice.
The political tranquility we are experiencing since the March 9 handshake is commendable and should be supported by all politicians across the divide. We are opposed to some politicians' tendency to create an environment that puts the country in perpetual campaign mode. This is not the time for campaigning. In the last few months, we have experienced heightened politicking, with people focussed solely on 2022.
We are telling those people from the Rift Valley and others from Central Kenya to stop distracting the President and the former Prime Minister from the Big Four. Some people have even taken the war on corruption very personally. The handshake is good for fighting corruption and securing the President’s legacy and it should be supported.
The former Education assistant minister and ex-presidential adviser spoke to the Star