Kuria painfully recounts how Jaramogi intervened when he was expelled from university.

 Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria waves to members of the Public along Oginga Odinga street in Kisumu when he met them on Saturday upon his visit to the Lake side city for the first time after the infamous handshake-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

             

By Dickson Odhiambo

July 23, 2018

Kuria painfully recounts how Jaramogi intervened when he was expelled from university.

WHEN he abruptly made an impromptu visit to Kisumu City last Saturday on his way to Nyakach Constituency for the home coming party of the new Principal Secretary for Information and Communication Technology Jerome Ochieng, it took many by surprise that the Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria could do such like a thing.

In deed he received a heroic welcome in Kisumu City where he had a meet-the people tour and talked to various groups including taxi operators along Oginga Odinga Street as well as addressing the traders at Jubilee Market along Kisumu-Nairobi Road.

This was an astounded visit by the Gatundu South MP whom prior to Last year’s general election was a fierce critic of the Opposition leader Raila Odinga and who could not make a visit to any part of Nyanza region due to heated political campaigns witnessed between the Jubilee Party and the Opposition’s National Super Alliance.

“I have today roamed in Kisumu City something I did not believe would have happened had it not been the issue of the Handshake between President Kenyatta and opposition Leader Raila Odinga,” he says.

But thanks to the great handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga that occurred on March 9 this year which also caught many unaware including the foot soldiers for the two protagonists and sons of the both Founding father of this nation and the first Vice President respectively.

The handshake has indeed helped in healing this nation thus cooling off the then heightened politics and Moses Kuria, the Gatundu South MP indeed confirmed while attending the home coming event of the PS for ICT at Kusa Village in Nyakach where he said: “Indeed had it not been for the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the opposition leaders Raila Odinga, I would have not visited this place for sure.”

 Kuria says he took a very heavy decision to come to Nyakach and Kisumu City in particular and had to seek pieces of advice from Opposition Leader Raila Amollo Odinga whom he said truly advised him not to hesitate and pay a visit as soon as possible.

“After this my good friend PS for ICT Jerome Ochieng invited me to come here in Nyakach for his home coming, I had to seek for an advice from opposition leader Raila Odinga and he advised me to come without failing. I can say it here that the handshake has done greater things for this country indeed,” Kuria adds.

Kuria who on the same day also helped in fundraising in aid of St. Cecilia Kusa Catholic Church and gave a personal donation of shs 400,000 took to the podium to painfully narrate how the Doyen of Opposition politics the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga had to intervene when he was expelled as a student of the University of Nairobi.

He says Mzee Jaramogi advised him to move to court so that the decision by the university could be rescinded if the court found it unlawful and indeed this is exactly what happened.

The second term Member of Parliament for Gatundu South says after he moved to court upon Odinga’s advice, the court threw out the decision the Universityhad made earlier and he was re-admitted thereby completing his University education.

“We have a very long friendship with the Odinga’s and sometimes it is only politics that separates people which should not be the case,” Kuria adds.

He says when Odinga died I on January 20 1994; he personally attended to his funeral at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi in Nyamira within Bondo area and remembers the events at the funeral with a lot of nostalgia.

Kuria adds that during Odinga’s first anniversary on January 20 1995, he again attended the event where he shared a podium with former Nigerian President General Olesegum Obasanjo who was a very great friend of the late Mzee Odinga.

He says the then Government of Former President Moi ordered that no loud music inform of entertaining the guests should be allowed during the first Anniversary,  adding that it was not possible hence the Music was played and people entertained themselves very well.

He says what followed thereafter remains in history since police tear gassed them at night and the rest is history.

Kuria now says the issue of handshake is not about 2022 politics but it is about healing the nation and bringing its people together, adding that everything is very much possible once the people of this nation are brought together and peace prevails.

He adds that politics should be completely removed from the issue of handshake, adding that handshake should be extended to other parts of the country for its complete healing since this is the best resource God has given Kenyans at this particular moment.

“In 2013, most people did not believe that Kikuyus and Kalenjins could work together politically and now the moments of 2013 are with us again because most people do not believe that President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition Leader Raila Odinga cannot work together after the 2017 General Elections. We want to do it as Kenyans because it is possible,” he says.

On the issue of paying political debts, Kuria says as a banker, he offers an advice for a debt recovery unit to be created for this country so that such political debts should be sorted once such a unit is formed.

He says Kenyans needs their problems solved first before talking about the issue of paying political debts.

“Kenyans have same problems facing them for example if there is hunger in Turkana and in Kisumu here, Kenyans there feels the pinch of such problems equally,” he concludes.

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