Opposition leader Raila Odinga has weighed in on his controversial swearing-in ceremony as the people’s president in January 30, 2018.
In an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, Raila dismissed reports that he decided to proceed with the swearing-in ceremony without his his co-principals Moses Wetang’ula, Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka.
He refuted claims that he gave his colleagues a Nigerian number on the swearing-in ceremony day.
“Whether the number was Nigerian, Indian, American, or Russian, the news of my swearing-in was all over, those who wanted to come, came, those who didn’t want to come, stayed away. It was attendance by choice, those who did not feel did not attend,” said Raila.
The former Prime Minister, however, added that he was not disappointed that the other National Super Alliance (NASA) chiefs failed to attend, saying it was their choice.
When grilled on the famous handshake between him (Raila) and President Uhuru Kenyatta, he said he did not leave out his colleagues as this was just a starting point for a long process of healing and moving the country forward.
“I have not left anybody out. We had agreed that what we were going to engage in were talks upon talks. These talks had to begin somewhere,” Raila said.
Citizen TV’s Hussein Mohamed further asked the NASA leader the position he holds after joining President Uhuru in the Building Bridges Initiative.
“I’m not in Government, if I was in Government I would have a specific title. I’m outside Government as a member of the ODM and NASA,” Raila said.
The ODM leader also declined to comment on lawyer Miguna Miguna’s deportation.
He indicated he did everything that was in his power to ensure that the firebrand Miguna was allowed back into the country.
“I do not want to talk about Miguna Miguna,” Raila said.
