Former head of Public Service Francis Muthaura has opened up of intrigues that led to the 2007-2008 post-election deal that led to the formation of the Grand Coalition Government.
Speaking on Citizen TV, Muthaura claimed that even before former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (late) came into the picture, former President Mwai Kibaki (late) had contacted Raila Odinga.
Muthaura claimed that Kibaki was ready to accommodate Raila in his administration but Raila did not trust the sincerity of the talks.
He said that Raila wanted an outsider to lead the mediation between him and Kibaki and that is what happened.
"To my surprise, we really had a wonderful President (Mwai Kibaki) at that time. Even before Kofi Annan came, the President wanted to invite Raila for discussions to deal with problems that were causing him so much passion and stabilising the system. He was open to accommodation.
"We talked to Raila about it and he said clearly he wanted an external mediation because he cannot be sure that we shall be impartial," Muthaura said.
He noted that all this while, Kibaki's intention was not to keep his job.
He said what the third President wanted the most was peace and stability in the country, and also public confidence.
"Kibaki's intention was not his job. He wanted to make sure peace and confidence were restored in the public. To him that was important."
Muthaura said when the mediation led by Kofi Annan came up with a power-sharing administration, Kibaki accepted.
He noted that this also came with its challenges but they could navigate through it well.
"When the mediation came and came up with government sharing, the President embraced it and for him, the functions of the Prime Minister were very clear although at the beginning there were problems with the functions of PM and the vice president."
Kibaki and Raila went into negotiations after the former President was controversially declared the winner of the 2007 presidential election.
This led to the 2007-2008 post-election violence that saw thousands of Kenyans lose their lives, and many others displaced internally.
