Raila: Day I irked Uhuru protocol men after drawing him aside for hours
President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and ODM leader Raila Odinga during a past visit in Bondo.
The President was done with his business of the day in Kisumu and all set to leave, with his jet engine already running.
Then out of the blue, an idea struck Mr Raila Odinga (his handshake brother). Mr Odinga recalls he had something to show the Head of State on that day on January 19, 2019 and it couldn't wait. And to the chagrin of his protocol and security detail, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta complied, disappearing for four good hours without an explanation to them.
Ordinarily, it is not commonplace for a civilian to take the Head of State aside, whisper a few words in his ear then they change course. It was both an awkward moment and that of panic for the detail. Were they going to approach the President and politely ask him to stick to the schedule, or follow him to the new assignment or whatever it was?
Lean security team
They chose the latter and still he had a condition—he wanted a lean security team to accompany them so as not to attract much attention.
The duo had been flown in separate choppers from Koru, in the county, after attending the burial of former Youth Fund chairman Bruce Odhiambo.
All the while, a signal had been relayed to the escort team in Nairobi, with traffic bosses alerted to prepare for the landing of the Head of State and sections of Mombasa Road from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport closed to the public.
“I wanted him to witness first-hand how pathetic the situation at the port had become. This was the opportunity. It is an issue we had raised before, but sometimes handlers never relay certain information with the accuracy and urgency required,” the Azimio presidential candidate told the Nation in a recent interview.
“The President was moved. He didn’t know such existed. After the tour, he ordered the management of the port to come up with a revival plan.”
Inspecting port progress
Mr Kenyatta has since visited the port about a dozen times, sometimes flying in and out unannounced to inspect progress. Among other things, Mr Odinga wanted the President to meet his abandoned namesake, MV Uhuru. The ship had been rotting in the waters for 12 or so years. And the port was choking under years of neglect and a thick cover of hyacinth.
It was an elaborate tour of the port. He told him the county and regional economy would roar back to life if the port was resuscitated and narrated how vibrant it was decades back when goods and passengers were transported across the three countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, that share Lake Victoria.
“After a few days, the management of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) got back to the President, informing him that they required Sh20 billion to fully revive the port,” Mr Odinga said.
“The President told me that this would need Parliament to pass a supplementary budget. But I told him I had an idea how we could go about it. That’s how the National Youth Service and Kenya Navy came on board to cut the cost. In the end, we were able to accomplish the mission [for] Sh4 billion,” he said.
There would later be changes at the top management of KPA, including the exit of MD Daniel Manduku. We didn’t know if the budget proposal had anything to do with it.
“After our tour, we went to the villages to look for former employees who had knowledge of MV Uhuru and where vital parts may have been dumped, so as to repair it. It paid off as we were not beginning from scratch,” he said.
Vision of lakeside city
The former prime minister wanted to share his vision of the lakeside city with the President. The detour that Saturday evening triggered a chain reaction, part of what is sometimes referred to as the handshake dividend that has breathed life into the once dilapidated and neglected port.
There have also been massive infrastructural projects launched in the region, making some from Mr Kenyatta’s backyard like Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria lament that he was giving the lakeside city and the opposition zones undue attention, yet they didn’t vote for him.
An official at the port told the Nation on Thursday that they are beginning to transport oil in bulk to neighbouring countries.
“Two vessels have been identified, one from Kenya and the other from Uganda with the capacity to transport four million litres each. It means we will be able to do eight million litres per day through the port,” the officer, who is not allowed to speak to the press, said.
Inflated tender costs
Mr Odinga said inflated tender costs had seen excess money sunk into projects to satisfy the appetite of dishonourable officers.
“If we became vigilant and frugal with public resources, we can achieve so much without having to borrow externally. Most of these tender prices you see are inflated because people want their cuts. This has to stop if we must develop the country. The people must get value for money,” he said.
After two years, President Kenyatta commissioned MV Uhuru in May last year in the company of his Burundian counterpart Evariste Ndayishimiye. It had operated for a while before the commissioning. The vessel, built 57 years ago by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland, stalled in 2007.
It operated between Kisumu, Musoma, Mwanza and Jinja. On completion, Mr Kenyatta ensured he received the ship from Bukoba, its maiden trip.
“He was alerted that in an hour they’ll be back to the Kisumu port. He boarded a Kenya Air Force plane to Kisumu so he could witness it. It was such a joy with memories of yesteryear,” Mr Odinga said.
Special lunch for crew
After welcoming the crew, Mr Kenyatta treated them to a special lunch at the Yacht Club.
“I remember him giving each one of them Sh50,000 to say thank you. This was aside from their pay,” he said.
The many years of no activity at the port saw enormous encroachment onto railway land and when the President came knocking, hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses were affected as the state moved to recover the land. The recovery has restored the dignity of the city, earning it the moniker ‘Yurop’.
Another Sh450 million has since been put into the Marine School in Kisumu to keep a constant supply of the skills to run the revived port.
The restoration of the port is a classical demonstration of what political goodwill is and why politicians fight and are even ready to kill to capture state power. It has a direct bearing on people’s lives and livelihoods.
For the first time, the city hosted celebrations of a national holiday, Madaraka Day, in June last year, bringing with it more infrastructure benefits.
Today, after the rapprochement with Mr Odinga in 2018, the President is treated to a heroic welcome each time he visits Kisumu. In fact, the last time he was in Kondele, the most volatile place in the city during elections, the President didn’t need to be in the company of the former prime minister. They say he’s a good man, that he’s now ‘saved’, especially after endorsing the Azimio candidate to succeed him next month.
“One thing that has ensured the handshake lasted to date has been the goodwill from the President and me. There is no single day I placed any demands on him. He also understood that I was genuine from the word go – we all were and still are – and all I wanted was the best for the country,” Mr Odinga said.
