Raila Odinga: I regularly engage Ruto and opposition leaders to heal Kenya’s political wounds
Odinga said that Kenya’s democracy must mature to a point where political rivals contest as friends and, once elections are over, can shake hands and move the conversation forward.
ODM leader Raila Odinga has disclosed that he maintains regular communication with leaders from both the government and the opposition, emphasising his role in bridging political divides and promoting national unity.
In a televised interview on Sunday evening, Odinga said he had presented his proposal for an intergenerational national conclave to several key figures, including President William Ruto, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, and People Liberation Party leader Martha Karua.
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“Have I had a word with President William Ruto about the intergenerational national conclave proposal, and what has he said? Well, initially, I did not discuss it with him. I just made this proposal myself because I was proposing it to Kenyans. I was not proposing it even as ODM, and I wanted Kenyans to digest it first and reflect on it and see if they would accept it,” Odinga said.
“That’s why I wanted it to be a debate, should we have it or should we not have it? But I gave reasons why I think we should have it, and I think we are getting a kind of good momentum.”
According to Odinga, President Ruto has asked him to “post” the idea, while former President Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka have also been briefed.
“I also mentioned it to President Uhuru Kenyatta. I mentioned it to Kalonzo Musyoka. I talked to him yesterday. He says he is having what you call a ‘wait and see’ attitude. But you know that I talk to all these people. I talk to Martha all the time. A week does not pass before I’ve talked to them, those who are in opposition. I talk to all of them,” he said.
“I’m in a neutral position to try to heal the wounds, to bring the country together.”
Odinga emphasised that national healing requires creating conditions for a fair political contest, whether it results in victory or defeat for any side.
“Even if you’re talking about getting rid of Ruto, or you get rid of Ruto, unless you get a conditioned environment in which there can be a fair contest, and he loses fairly and he accepts defeat, and you must get those conditions. You cannot do it when people are shouting at each other. And if Ruto wins fairly, you must also accept that he has won fairly,” he added.
He noted that Kenya’s democracy must mature to a level where elections are contested without hostility.
Contest as friends
“Our democracy must come of age, where you know people contest as friends, and once the elections are over, people shake hands. Great. Let’s now take the conversation forward,” Odinga said.
On accusations that he has betrayed the Gen Z movement and is supporting President Ruto, Odinga dismissed the claims as misleading.
“That misses the point completely. Remember, I was asked to stay home, and I stayed home. They did not come out at all, and then there was a stalemate,” he said.
He defended the role Gen Z protesters played, highlighting their rejection of the country’s leadership.
“See what Gen Zs did, which was very fundamental, that they said clearly that the people had no confidence. They stormed parliament, they stormed the Supreme Court. They were on the way to the State House, meaning that no confidence in the three arms of the government,” he said.
According to Odinga, the situation should have led to the government’s resignation.
“The government should have resigned, but the government did not resign, and you saw there was a stalemate. The government was now going to bring the military into the fray, and the Gen Zs were also not making much progress. So there was a standoff, which can easily go into a situation of anarchy,” he lamented.
“You see, because you don’t have the power to compel the military to surrender, and you also do not have the power to remove the president from State House. So you’re just there. Anything can happen.”
He insisted that dialogue is inevitable in moments of national turmoil, describing it as the only path to avoiding anarchy.
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