A group of the Kikuyu Council of Elders is in Siaya county to cement on their unity with their counterparts from the Luo community in one of the many activities happening in the background as President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga push to rally the two communities behind the Azimio la Umoja Movement.
On Saturday afternoon, Siaya Senator James Orengo together with top Luo politicians hosted the elders and Mt Kenya leaders at his Ugenya home, a meeting where the two communities vowed to push a united front in the upcoming August general elections.
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After the March 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, the two leaders have been on a steady effort to reconcile the two communities which have always had political rivalry tracing down to after independence when Mzee Jomo Kenyatta fell out with his founding Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Last year in September, the Kikuyu Council of Elders endorsed ODM leader Raila Odinga for the top seat at a colorful event in Nyeri that marked the culmination of a journey that began in 2019 with where elders have had a series of back and forth meetings in Nairobi, Siaya, and Nyeri counties.
At the Nyeri event last year, Dr. Oburu Oginga said a time has come for the Kikuyu community to understand the working relationship that existed between Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and the founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and how Raila endorsed Kibaki for the presidency with the declaration of Kibaki ‘tosha’ in 2002 elections.
Read: Kikuyu Elders to endorse Raila for the top seat in Nyeri
“My father said without Kenyatta there would be no freedom, my brother said Kibaki ‘tosha’, we would like the community to reciprocate while we promise we shall protect your businesses without suppression,” he said.
Today’s visit is coming at a time when Mr. Odinga is on a campaign blitz to different parts of the republic, with Narok being his host this weekend.
