Opposition Chief Raila Odinga quietly flew out of the country on Saturday to Dubai in what insiders say was part of his resource-mobilisation plans.
Sources aware of the trip said Raila is building a formidable financial war chest for a do-or-die contest—probably his last—against Deputy President William Ruto next year.
Raila's office yesterday confirmed that the ODM party boss jetted out of Nairobi to the United Arab Emirates city but denied he was on a 2022 fundraising blitz.
However, sources close to Raila confirmed that he is scheduled to hold talks with some Arab tycoons and German businessmen.
The only person accompanying Raila is Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, himself a suave businessman. Junet has emerged as Raila’s Mr Fix It and top adviser.
The Star has learnt that Raila flew out of the country on Saturday night after attending the burial of Dorcas Ntimama, the widow of former Cabinet Minister William ole Ntimama in Narok.
Junet, who is also the co-chair of the Building Bridges Initiative secretariat, left the country for Dubai three days earlier.
“They were to leave together but Tinga [Raila] had been invited to Ukambani to accompany the President,” a source familiar with the details said.
Political big guns are jostling for financing in readiness for an election that is believed would be driven by hi-tech infrastructure and expensive foreign campaign advisers.
Over the last two months, Ruto has also visited Turkey and Uganda on unclear missions.
On Monday, Raila's spokesman Dennis Onyango downplayed the alleged fundraising extravaganza in Dubai saying the ODM boss was in the UAE emirate for an African Union project.
Onyango told the Star that Raila's trip has everything to do with the African Infrastructure Fund—a continental private and public partnership kitty dedicated to capital-intensive projects under the AU.
“He (Raila) was to meet some guys who had shown interest in this thing he has been pushing called African Infrastructure Fund, so he has potential people who had requested to meet him. That is why he is there,” Onyango said on the phone.
Raila is the African Union Special Envoy for infrastructure, a role that he earned largely as an appreciation for his political truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“He is generally on that mission,” Onyango said.
However, there was no indication of any AU staff in his entourage.
In July last year, Raila was in Dubai for "minor surgery”, having been flown there in late June.
Presidential elections are high-stakes. With next year's campaign promising to be one of the most expensive in the country's history, hopefuls are desperately hunting for cash and international connections.
In 2013 and 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta hired the services of US data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica which was paid millions of shillings.
Raila, on the other hand, used US-based campaign data company Aristotle Inc but whose top officials were dramatically deported by the government before the 2017 general election.
On its website, Aristotle bosses said Raila’s campaign was close to their hearts, revealing for the first time how they branded Raila.
“This campaign was incredibly close to my heart – after all, I was on the ground as a principal consultant. Senior Vice President Andreas Katsouris and I worked closely with presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition of opposition parties,” the firm's CEO John Aristotle Phillips said.
“While Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta ran for reelection as a technocratic visionary, Odinga focused his message on issues relating to the everyday lives of his voters, including the suffering of the poor, rising unemployment, inadequate social services, runaway inflation, and food scarcity.
"Aristotle staff helped craft a message strategy targeting bread and butter issues, including food insecurity. The campaign presented Odinga as a benevolent father figure (“Baba”) under the theme #RailaCares.”
There are indications Uhuru has resolved to back Raila and is mobilising Nasa chiefs to assemble a team.
With Ruto considered a wealthy politician with a craving for public donations, the ODM boss is rolling up his sleeves to fill his purse for the 2022 titanic showdown.
Despite falling out of favour in Uhuru's succession plans, Ruto remains unbowed and has promised to give his rivals a run for their money through his populist bottom-up economic model.
A senior ODM official who sought anonymity told the Star that the Dubai trip was strategically planned to enable Raila to meet businessmen as part of his resource mobilisation strategy.
“We are entering the home stretch and as we embark on 2022 presidential campaigns, the party is exploring viable options of raising the billions needed to mount earthshaking campaigns in 2022,” the official said.
Although the official did not reveal the framework ODM has laid down to raise funds, he divulged that Raila and some members of the party top brass will have frequent overseas trips in the coming months.
It is believed that Raila, the scion of Kenya's first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, is going flat out to bag what has eluded him in the previous four stabs at the presidency.
“Campaigns in Kenya are known to be very expensive and for one to run an efficient presidential campaign they require huge finances to get ahead of their rivals,” political risk analyst Dismas Mokua said.
Mokua said Kenyans will soon witness more of the 2022 presidential hopefuls making overseas trips to build international networks and firm up their election war chest.
“Presidential candidates tend to seek support from international leaders because of the deep interests that foreign countries have,” he said.
In the 2013 polls, Raila organised a Sh1 million-a-plate dinner, where guests donated a minimum of Sh1 million.
Just last week, Ruto held a three-day visit to Uganda, in which he held private talks with host President Yoweri Museveni.
Although he was in Kampala to lay a foundation stone for a biotech factory, his trip was seen to be loaded with heavy political symbolism meant to enhance his ties with Museveni.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had initially limited presidential campaign spending to Sh5.2 billion.
The strict regulation, which sought to create a level playing field to eliminate voter bribery, curb misuse of public resources and money from illegal sources, was suspended by Parliament until 2022.
The Election Campaign Financing Act was Kenya's first law to compel parties and candidates to fully disclose their poll funding sources before an election.
It is estimated that in 2013, Raila and Uhuru, who were the leading presidential contenders, each spent between Sh10 billion and Sh20 billion.
