Members of the Embu Council of Elders have paid glowing tribute to Former Premier and ODM Leader, Raila Odinga, terming him as political icon of democracy and human rights defender in the country.
Led by the Council Patron and former Runyenjes Member of Parliament (MP), Njeru Kathangu, the elders said Raila had played a big role in shaping the political landscape of the country in a career, spanning close to six decades.
Kathangu who was once detained alongside Raila and others, including Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia and George Anyona in 1990, for organizing nationwide protests against Moi dictatorship and tyranny, said Raila played a pivotal role in restoration of multi-party politics and democracy in 1991.
Speaking during a Council meeting in Runyenjes Town, Saturday, Kathangu said though Raila never lived to clinch the presidency in the five times he contested, no one has influenced the political landscape of the country since independence like him.
He said Raila managed to shape the successive governments by keeping them on their toes to ensure good governance and respect of rights of ordinary Kenyans.
The former MP said though his political journey was characterized by controversy since he came into the political limelight in 1982 during the coup and his perceived involvement, he has etched his name in the country’s history, as a father of Kenyan democracy.
In reference to his courage, Kathangu recalled the time when Raila moved from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to KANU and became the party’s Secretary General, a move that angered his colleagues in the opposition.
“I asked him why he had decided to move to KANU, when we are actually fighting so hard against it and he told me he wanted to go and face-off with political giants in the party,” he recalled.
He said true to his word, KANU broke-up, later he went and threw his weight behind Mwai Kibaki with his “Kibaki Tosha” declaration at Uhuru Park in 2002, where Kibaki went on to win the election.
The Council Secretary, Dr. Julius Njue, said currently there was no person in the political landscape of the country, who could match his political abilities.
“We might miss a man of Raila’s caliber for a long time in Kenya,” he noted, adding he has been the icon of democracy in the country.
The Council Women Wing Chair, Margaret Nyaga said she admired the sheer energy and determination that was characteristic of Raila.
“He managed to mobilize and inspire his people and many others, so that they could join his course and spend energy on achieving it,” she said.
By Samuel Waititu
