- President Uhuru Kenyatta has declared his support for Raila as his preferred successor when his term expires with the elections.
- Raila, who will be in the UK for five days, will give an address at the Chatham House in London.
ODM leader Raila Odinga will have near similar political engagements in the UK as Deputy President William Ruto next week.
He is expected to fly out for a series of engagements, days after the DP’s whirlwind tours that also saw him visit the US.
Raila and Ruto, main antagonists in the August 9 presidential race, are fighting to expand their international networks and links and woo the crucial diaspora vote bloc.
The former prime minister will travel after the unveiling of the Azimio la Umoja presidential flagbearer on Saturday.
Raila, who will be in the UK for five days, will give an address at the Chatham House in London.
The DP spoke at the same royal institute on Monday about Kenya’s 2022 elections, tearing into the handshake. Raila will be expected to give a rejoinder.
"Today in Kenya, we have a mongrel of a governance system – you don’t know whether the government is in the opposition or the opposition is the government,” Ruto said during the address.
Chatham House is an independent royal policy institute based in London.
In the itinerary, the former prime minister is also scheduled to meet Archbishop of Canterbury – the head of Anglican Church in the world.
The Archbishop met Ruto on Monday evening, soon after the DP delivered a speech at the Chatham House.
“Good to meet William Ruto this afternoon and looking forwards to seeing Raila Odinga next week,” a tweet by the Archbishop reads.
The tweet adds, “Praying for peace, open and credible elections on the August 9.”
Raila is also expected to meet Kenyans living in the UK.
Ruto met the lot on Sunday evening and wooed them to elect him.
The DP said he would sign a charter with the diaspora community, articulating plan to address their concerns.
“Today, it will not surprise you that Kenyans pay Sh200 to NSSF for pension. What kind of saving are you going to make with Sh200? It is a joke but it's going on in Kenya,” he said.
Voting for the first time are Kenyans in the US, UK, Canada, South Sudan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Germany.
The seven countries join Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa that participated in the last election in 2017.
While in the UK, the AU Special envoy for Infrastructure will also engage the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation that supports the 54 member states to achieve the Commonwealth’s aims of development, democracy and peace.
Raila will also meet representatives of Kenyans living in the UK.
Ruto landed in the UK last Sunday from the US where he had a series of engagements with Kenyans living there in an effort to persuade them to vote for him.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)