On Tuesday, ODM Boss Raila Odinga gave Kenyans a glimpse of what to expect in the coming days, in terms of his 2022 political activities plus machinery not only in Mt Kenya but also across the country.
A meeting convened by Royal Media owner and business mogul SK Macharia at his Ndakaini home in Gatanga, brought together Mt Kenya governors, MPs, business owners, and musicians from the region to express their gratitude over the president’s move to exempt artistes from 25 percent excise duty.
Read: Uhuru-Raila joint countrywide tours to kick off next week
Despite being an event to celebrate the hard work of musicians, the meeting was with loaded symbolism, given it had blessings of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Online and media reports have been awash with the timing of yesterday’s hap as well as its impact on Mt Kenya politics, especially Mr. Odinga’s penetration into the elusive vote block.
”A new dawn is here. Recently, I said something huge would come, and some people doubted. That something huge, I can confidently say, is being crafted here. A quest to unite Kenya continues after the March 9, 2018 handshake. Next week, we will be in Nyanza. We’ll thereafter go to Western Kenya and then tour Coast. Later, we’ll visit other parts of the country. President Uhuru Kenyatta will be in tow,” Raila told the gathering.
It now emerges, opponents of Raila in the troubled NASA, as well as those in the United Democratic Alliance, are keenly following the ODM leader’s activities, with some now fully convinced it was not the time to cut political ties with the former PM.
”It was a peek at people behind his political machinery. The presence of Muranga billionaires at the event tells a lot. The Governors and elected leaders present shocked some leaders. Others who wanted him (Raila) isolated feel his weight,” a source confided to this publication.
Read: SK Macharia hosts Raila, Mt Kenya governors and tycoons in Gatanga
Present were Governors Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a), James Ongwae (Kisii), Alfred Mutua (Machakos), James Nyoro (Kiambu), former presidential aspirant Peter Kenneth, former Mombasa gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal and Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju.
At least 20 MPs attended the function, including Nduati Ngugi (Gatanga), Peter Kimari (Mathioya), Maoka Maore (Igembe North), Kanini Kega (Kieni), Maina Kamanda (Nominated), Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, Junet Mohamed (Suna East), among others.
