Uhuru Kenyatta’s secret meeting with Raila Odinga that pulled BBI train back on track

President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga held night talks in which they resolved to rein in hardliners in their respective camps following recent conflict surrounding the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and 2022 succession.

The meeting on Wednesday at Mr Odinga’s Karen home came a day the former prime minister reaffirmed the health of his Handshake pact with the President, declaring that a referendum to amend the constitution was on course.

The popular vote

Mr Odinga’s statement earlier in the day followed doubts sowed over the BBI referendum by accusations that some in the President’s camp wanted to avoid the popular vote.

There were also the latest pronouncements from within his team, particularly by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya that the referendum was not a priority due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed had earlier demanded that Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho desist from meddling in the affairs of the BBI Secretariat even as Senate Minority Leader James Orengo accused some senior civil servants of being behind schemes to influence President Kenyatta’s succession to short-change Mr Odinga.

Read: Secret plot to cut ODM leader Raila Odinga down to size

Against this backdrop, the two leaders, who struck a peace deal in 2018 to end a crippling post-2017 disputed presidential election crisis, held talks, the urgency of their meeting apparent in that, it came right after Mr Odinga, who had been infected with Covid-19, tested negative.

Sources said that, during the meeting, the two leaders agreed to jointly tour development projects in Nairobi County yesterday in a show of unity and assurance to their supporters that their unity dream was alive.

Mr Odinga yesterday appeared to confirm the meeting. “Kenyans I’m out, God is good. I’ve today got an opportunity to come out for the first time. I thank my brother (Uhuru) for coming to invite me at home to come out so that Kenyans can see my face,” Mr Odinga said.

Karen meeting

The President, who spoke before Mr Odinga, had said he called Mr Odinga yesterday morning to accompany him for the visit.

Sources privy to the Karen meeting, which came just hours after Mr Odinga hosted top party officials at his home, and resolved to push the BBI agenda, confirmed it happened. The two leaders reportedly agreed to rally their troops to “religiously back their BBI agenda with the President assuring that all was well.”

It also coincided with the day the party revealed that Mr Odinga, alongside his deputies, Mr Hassan Joho and Mr Oparanya, had applied for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of next year’s election. Sources told the Nation that the President was concerned about statements by some of Mr Odinga’s allies that have appeared to criticise some government officials and were deemed to be injurious to their BBI cause.

Mr Mohamed and Mr Orengo were also reportedly present at the Karen meeting and had a discussion with the Head of State.

 Yesterday, ODM Chairman John Mbadi said in a TV interview that all the issues ODM had raised on the BBI “had been addressed politically”. Mr Mohamed neither confirmed nor denied that the meeting happened.

Another source said “it was possible the two leaders could have met since Mr Odinga had tested negative and the President was eager to join him for a talk as they reflect on his three-week journey with the virus.”

Yesterday, ODM Treasurer Timothy Bosire said President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga had fruitful talks and are in control of their agenda, including the BBI.

“We’re on course as a party and [the] BBI fraternity. The rest of Kenyans should be assured that the country is more important than anyone, hence the small issues that are diversionary should be ignored,” he said.

The two leaders inspected the Green Park Bus Terminus on Haile Selassie Avenue in Nairobi. They then officially opened the 4.2km access road connecting the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD) and the Southern bypass.

Also commissioned were the 48km Ngong-Kiserian-Isinya and the 43km Kajiado-Imaroro roads in Kajiado County. They then went to State House for a joint address.

“My partnership with Raila allows us to do this, to work together, to bring development to our people. I want to thank Raila for coming with me. I thank God that he is now back as Covid-negative. I see you’re still full of energy,” the President said at State House.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee vice-chairman Otiende Amollo, a key Odinga ally, has said the BBI report in Parliament could be ready by next week. However, a special sitting must be convened to consider the draft constitutional amendment Bill.

MPs are divided on whether Parliament’s role is just ceremonial or they can amend the Bill.

Reporting by Justus Ochieng, Collins Omulo and Patrick Lang’at