Handshake pact is here to stay, Uhuru, Raila say.

 Opposition leader Raila Odinga welcomes President Uhuru Kenyatta in Kisumu when he came to launch Universal Health Coverage yesterday.The two leaders have said handshake pact is here to stay-Photo Courtesy.

By Dickson Odhiambo.

December 14, 2018.

Handshake pact is here to stay, Uhuru, Raila say.

THE Infamous handshake that occurred on March 9 this year between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga is there to stay, the two leaders have said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Opposition Chief Raila Odinga both have reiterated their full commitment in ensuring that the handshake pact which they entered early this year stays until the nation is fully united and bad politics is gotten rid of.

Addressing a gathering at Mamboleo Show ground during the official launch of the Universal health Coverage in Kisumu, President Kenyatta said never at any General election will Kenyans shed blood as a result of electing leaders in this country after every five years.

Kenyatta says such type of bad politics must come to an end because it is not the right direction for the country to head, adding that this is why he and Raila did handshake on March 9 this year to ensure that the country is taken back to the right track. 

“We agreed before all Kenyans on March 9 this year without being intimidated and without any condition that we must get forward as a country hence the handshake,” he says.

The President says already they have forgotten the past and are forging ahead while ensuring that the country moves forward.

“We have sat down and identified some of the problems in the country and asked ourselves why must tribalism, bad politics, politics of hatred and politics of shading blood should be there,” Kenyatta adds.

He says solutions about what always bring such problems must be found at all cost.

President Kenyatta says the issue of the winner takes it all after every elections is one of the problems facing the country and a solution should be found on how it can be dealt with once and for all.

He says there are thoughts that when one forms a government then it is his time to plunder public resources in the name of corruption, adding  that Kenyans must be united and ensure that the fight of corruption is heightened.

“We must unite and fight corruption and ensure that the Government is not only for a few individuals but for all the 45 million Kenyans,” he further says.

Opposition Leader Raila Odinga on his part says the country must be taken back to it good track where it was after independence in 1963, adding that this is why the handshake was mooted on March 9 this year.

Odinga says 59 years from 1961 Kenya should not go back to where it was and the gains made by those who fought hard for Independence should not be gotten rid of simply because of bad politics.

“In 1961, the late former President Jomo Kenyatta visited Kisumu and my father the Late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga accompanied him to a tour which they begun at Ahero where we also begun our tour today with President Kenyatta. This was of great significance,” Raila says.

Odinga says the handshake has greatly helped in healing the nation after the aftermath of the last year’s General Elections.

“You know where we were in December last year after the General election and I want to say it here that the handshake that we engaged in has help this country a lot,” Odinga says.

He says Kenyans are now not for bad and tribal politics, adding that the main aim of handshake is to ensure that the country remain united as one nation.

“Through the handshake, there will be no bad politics which brings tribalism, racism, gender discrimination among other ills in the society and we want to fight poverty as well as fight against plundering the public resources,” he adds.

Wiper Leader Kalaonzo Musyoka has also said the handshake is the best thing that happened in Kenya and should be supported at all cost.

Deputy President William Ruto who accompanied his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta also reiterated his full support for the handshake between President Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and Opposition leader for the first time shared a podium in Nyanza region after the one of the most contested Presidential polls last year in August.

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