- The ODM leader reminisced how he campaigned for Kibaki in 2002 saying it was proof against the perceptions that he doesn’t like Kikuyus.
- Raila decried the divisions that have followed saying Kenya would have made progress if leaders worked together.
ODM leader Raila Odinga on Friday exuded confidence that the Building Bridges Initiative will be back on track after the process at the Court of Appeal.
Raila said the events at the appellate court where those opposed to the BBI put a strong case against the constitutional amendments were similar to the half-time rest in a football match.
The former Prime Minister made the remarks in Nyeri where he joined the family of former Thika mayor Mumbi Ngaru for the burial of their mother Esther Ngonyo.
He was accompanied by Kieni MP Kanini Kega among other leaders from the region where he urged residents to embrace unity like was the case in the country during the pre-independence era.
Raila said the unity bid he is championing with President Uhuru Kenyatta will continue, revisiting the times when Kenya was arguably united in the fight against the colonial masters.
“It is on half-time because of the courts but let me assure it will be back as ‘nobody can stop reggae.”
The ODM leader reminisced how he campaigned for Kibaki in 2002 saying it was proof against the perceptions that he doesn’t like Kikuyus.
He said the country was united in the days his father Jaramogi Oginga fought for the release of the first President Jomo Kenyatta.
Raila decried the divisions that have followed saying Kenya would have made progress if leaders worked together without coalescing around their tribal kingpins.
He said these were the events that motivated his famous ‘Kibaki Tosha’ saying he considered the former President as a Kenyan who could lead.
“Didn’t I know Kibaki was Kikuyu when I was saying Kibaki Tosha. By bad luck, he had an accident. I travelled the entire country when Kibaki was away…I was the one leading the campaign and we won.”
The ODM leader further took a swipe at the Hustler side poking holes on their “bottom-up approach” concept as a path to developing the country.
Raila said there is no new development plan that can work for the country better than the Vision 2030 blueprint they set in place together with retired President Mwai Kibaki.
The blueprint has all plans for moving the country from the status of a third world economy to an industrialised middle-income economy by 2030.
“We have put all these in place. We have plans for agriculture, industrialisation, water, electricity, education, health among others. All development plans are in the Vision 2030.”
Raila said the country could do better if there were no incidents of corruption saying the monies being used to lure voters should be in government coffers.
“Kenya needs no new formula for development. We have enough plans of improving the lives of all Kenyans from Mama Mboga to the youths. What is needed is for these to be implemented.”
He said it was regrettable that the president has no officials to help him achieve his development agenda.
Raila said the BBI was a product of the reforms agenda that his team has been championing for over the years to better the lives of Kenyans.
-Edited by SKanyara