Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga is viewed as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s most preferred successor ahead of the August 2022 general elections.
According to a November 7 to 13, 2021 survey conducted by the Trends and Insights For Africa (TIFA), many Kenyans assume that Uhuru prefers Raila to Ruto as his successor.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is serving his second and final term in office, is expected to publicly endorse Odinga’s 2022 bid, overlooking his deputy and running mate in the past two elections William Ruto.
The president has so far kept off active political campaigns, saying he will do so at the right time, however, these are the five times Uhuru has hinted at endorsing the ODM leader.
Breach of protocol followed a recent one at Wang’uru stadium in Kirinyaga County:
During the October 20 Mashujaa Day celebrations, where the President invited Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga to address the gathering after Deputy President William Ruto had already made his speech.
The ODM leader also got similar treatment at the June 1 Madaraka Day celebrations in Kisumu, cementing the perceived preferential treatment at State functions over his main rival in next year’s presidential polls.
DP Ruto and his political allies have already declared the ODM leader a State project, citing the preferential treatment he has enjoyed from President Kenyatta’s administration since the handshake rapprochement four years ago.
2. Recent Jamhuri Day Celebrations:
National functions of stature follow strictly with government protocols where the deputy president invites the president and the president addresses the nation and after that the function comes to an end.”
At the tail end of the president’s address he tactfully said that the people wanted Raila Odinga to address them, but it was plainly the president’s way of bringing in the former prime minister to address a nation on Jamhuri day, and it basically places the former Prime Minister above the DP in terms of protocol.
3. Recent state of the nation address:
During the State of the Nation address to Parliament on November 30, Mr Odinga was the only person who the President recognized in his speech that lasted for 2 hours and 8 minutes.
At Parliament, the president mentioned Odinga not once, but three times, the only Kenyan who received the privilege.
This was a clear indication according to many that the ODM leader was the preferred candidate in the upcoming 2022 polls.
“Raila Odinga will bring reforms and unite the country. His time has come. It is his moment. We can all see it is his moment,” he said.
It was here that the President said he wanted someone who would continue with his development plans after his exit.
While praising Mr Odinga for accepting to enter into a handshake with him in March 2018, the President declared that the peaceful environment that has ensued helped him implement his legacy projects.
4. Pass Out Parade in Ruiru:
After presiding over the pass out parade of Kenya Prisons Officers at their training school in Ruiru, the President dug in his support for Raila while assailing his deputy.
“Don’t accept the good work I have done in the last nine years and that which Mwai Kibaki did before me be wiped away by thieves and the corrupt ones,” he said.
The president remarks triggered retaliation from DP Ruto’s allies who challenged him to reveal the corrupt individuals he was referring to.
5. Uhuru hints at a ‘Raila tosha’ endorsement in Kibra
The President endorsed the ODM leader yet again while addressing a gathering in Kibra where he was accompanied by Raila for a tour of development projects.
The president opened two hospitals in the populous area that Raila represented as a Member of Parliament (MP) for decades.
President Kenyatta for the first time left no doubt that he wanted someone who would continue with his development plans after he exits in 2022.
He heaped praises on Raila for accepting to enter into a handshake with him in March 2018 saying the peaceful environment that followed helped his legacy projects.
Despite the many times, the president has hinted at endorsing the ODM leader, the final hint was when President Uhuru Kenyatta alluded to a possible presidential election victory by his handshake alliance partner Raila Odinga saying he could win the 2022 “marathon”.
President Kenyatta suggested Deputy President William Ruto, who he had declared on numerous occasions prior to 2018 as his preferred successor, could lose the race.
Speaking from the City of Nakuru on Wednesday, Kenyatta who went full throttle to describe what it takes to be a leader said rising to the top takes time.
In a thinly veiled reference to Ruto, he described the DP’s campaign as a sprint.
“Leadership is not a sprint, it is a marathon, you will be busy running fast and by the time you are done you run out of breath but mzee (loosely translated as an old person) who has been walking slowly by slowly comes and passes you and wins the race. Go slowly,” Kenyatta said.
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