Prior to the final announcement to postpone his hyped swearing-in fete which was slated for Tuesday, Raila Odinga was confronted by over five key powerful people, drawn from within Kenya and the international communities, making him to drop his quest for the presidency.
The heartbreaking announcement Sunday evening by Nasa Co-principal Musalia Mudavadi, which played out as a joke to millions of Nasa supporters, apparently was not the best to arrive at, pending the significance of such an event in the union of the coalition.
“Following extensive internal consultations and engagement with a wide range of national and international interlocutors, the Nasa leadership wishes to advise the Nasa fraternity and the general public that the swearing in of Rt Hon Raila Amolo Odinga and His Excellency Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka as President and Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, and the launch of The People’s Assembly, scheduled for Tuesday, December 12, have been postponed to a later date,” Mr Mudavadi said on Sunday and quipped at pursuing the national dialogue way which many critics have been advocating for.
“We are aware that this will be a disappointment to the people of Kenya who were eagerly waiting for this occasion. Specifically, we wish to reiterate that any national dialogue must have electoral justice on the agenda. We are not interested in sharing illegitimate dictatorial power,” he said.
Here are key figures who influenced the final decision to
Robert Godec, United States
Mr Godec, a key Trump ambassador to Kenya, has been on the forefront to push for talks between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
Despite a lame chance at State House, which has been occasioned by the need to exhaust the legal avenues provide for in the constitution, President Kenyatta contemplates, Mr Godec has not been reluctant in pushing for Raila-Uhuru talks.
Nic Hailey, United Kingdom
In a collective effort in previous long-lasting meetings with Mr Odinga, Nic Hailey has been instrumental in making Raila drop his quest for swearing-in in even as the issue took a dig on the leadership at the coalition.
A meeting held last week by Mr Odinga and Nic and other Western envoys may have made Mr Odinga change his mind.
“The meeting also reviewed activities planned for December 12 and agreed on the need to act strictly in accordance with the Constitution,” the statement said.
Jutta Frasch, Germany
Jutta Frasch (Germany), was also irked by the need for dialogue between Nasa and Jubilee to end a political stalemate now in its fourth month.
Church leaders
Church leaders have also taken the same position, urging the two sides to drop their hardline positions and engage in talks to bring about reforms.
Joseph Boinnet
Hated across the board by the Nasa fraternity for ‘deploying police against its people’, Nasa leadership may have learned the hard way by seasoned confrontation with the police. The final decision to abort the ceremony, it was understood, was to avoid any confrontations and show the world that Nasa was pushing for reforms without causing chaos.
The antiriot police had already been sent across the country to deal with possible pockets of violence that would have been witnessed in the event the former Premier took oath.
“It was meant to send a signal to the world that we are not unreasonable people, and to show that Nasa is not made up of anarchists. A lot of people have died,” said a member of the organising committee who sought anonymity.
Earlier in the day police had remained tight-lipped regarding security arrangements for Tuesday’s Jamhuri Day celebrations, whose lustre would have been affected by Mr Odinga’s swearing-in. On Friday, Mr Boinnet said the police were ready to enforce Attorney-General Githu Muigai’s warning to Nasa that swearing in Mr Odinga as ‘The People’s President” would amount to treason.