- Among all those seeking the presidency, none has the experience and statesmanship like Raila, Murathe says.
- But Raila has remained tight-lipped about his 2022 bid despite pressure from his supporters.
Image: COURTESY
President Uhuru Kenyatta will back ODM leader Raila Odinga to succeed him in 2022 because “he is the only one capable of holding the country together," Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe has said.
“Among all those seeking the presidency none of them has the experience and statesmanship like Raila does. We will go out of our way to ensure he is elected by a huge majority,” he said in an interview with the Star yesterday.
Uhuru, Murathe added, will also prefer Raila as away of settling a historical debt between his father Jomo Kenyatta and Raila's father Jaramogi oginga Odinga.
“The Kenyattas owe the Odingas a debt because Raila's father helped Mzee Kenyatta to ascend to the presidency despite sustained pressure from the colonialists," Murathe said.
In the runner-up to Kenya getting Independence, the British wanted Jaramogi to take Kenyatta's position and become Kenya's first prime minister. However, Jaramogi declined insisting that their leader was Kenyatta and there would be no Independence without Kenyatta being freed.
Raila's father served as Jomo Kenyatta's vice president subsequently but the pair fell out and Jaramogi quit in 1966, sparking a political rivalry that persisted between the Luo and Kikuyu over the years.
"If it was fine for DP William Ruto to shake hands with Uhuru and peace prevailed in Rift Valley, why is it wrong for the President to shake hands with Raila so we can have peace and stability across the country?," Murathe said.
"Raila has guaranteed that so far, and went out of his way to support presidents Moi, Kibaki and now Kenyatta. He has proved beyond doubt that he has a big heart and is a statesman. Let us reward him."
An astute politician and avid campaigner who is known to move crowds using parables and football commentary, Raila has remained tight-lipped about his 2022 bid despite pressure from his supporters.
Since he shook hands with President Kenyatta, Raila has insisted that his only agenda is to ensure that the nine-point agenda is implemented.
On Monday, Murathe said he and other people he did not name would persuade Central Kenya, which has previously rejected the ODM leader, to vote for Raila in 2022.
"Those thinking Central Kenya will not vote for Raila will be shocked," he said.
A number of people from the region have declared their interest in succeeding President Kenyatta but Murathe thinks they are not serious and it will be unfair for another Kikuyu to run for president.
"The person whom we want to align with Raila is Peter Kenneth. Anyone else who is not in that plan is wasting his time," Murathe said.
He dismissed Kalonzo's potential candidature and asked him to support Raila if he hopes to remain politically relevant.
"We signed a cooperation agreement with his party. But some of the senators giving us a headache on this revenue sharing formula are Wiper senators. So if Kalonzo cannot get his legislators to back the President why should we support him in future?" the former Gatanga MP said.
“Raila has put his political life on the line and has been steadfast in supporting Uhuru. It's time to reward him and ensure the county remains in good hands.”
Raila first contested the presidency in 1997, when he performed dismally, coming third.
In 2002, he declared "Mwai Kibaki Tosha", only for the former president to fall out with Odinga after he refused to make Raila Prime Minister as agreed in the pre-election agreement between them.
Raila and his supporters believe that he was robbed of victory in 2007 when he ran on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket against Kibaki.
It was that election that deteriorated into nationwide ethnic violence, which left 1,300 Kenyans dead and more than 600,000 displaced.
Raila became prime minister under a power-sharing deal to end the post-election violence.
His struggle against one-party dictatorship saw him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) and he holds the record for being Kenya's longest-serving political detainee.
Edited by Henry Makori