Four years ago, on March 9, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his then rival Raila Odinga shook hands. The Handshake, as it would later be known, would birth peace, a stable working environment for President Kenyatta’s second term and reduce the number of demonstrations witnessed weekly following a fiercely contested election which the highest court on the land had nullified.
To the contrary, despite a repeat election former premier Raila Odinga withdraw his candidature citing lack of proper reforms on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Kenyatta’s only dream many assumed was to leave a legacy, which could only be achieved with stability in the country.
The only way to do so was to engage the seasoned politician who had taken a controversial oath and declared himself as the people’s president.
While many political pundits believed that Odinga would either be charged for treason or arrested, President Kenyatta made peace with his new-found ally.
His deputy, William Ruto, who had become his best friend and buddy as portrayed by the matching suits and ties they would wear during their campaign period through to the end of Kenyatta’s first term, would be betrayed.
Or rather, their bromance, which lasted for five years, would leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many, many of whom were close allies to the Deputy President.
The Handshake, which metamorphises into the Building Bridges Initiative, was not a political tool for propelling Odinga into the House on the hill; but President Kenyatta, on many occasions, had been quoted, saying that the sole purpose of the BBI was to create peace.
However, it is believed that some of the strategists on Odinga’s side saw the Handshake as an opportunity to sell Raila Odinga as the most preferred candidate for the presidency in the August 9, General election.
Fast forward to the current political situation in the country; the President has gone guns blazing on his deputy, With the Sagana Three political meeting in his backyard being the latest attempt to sell Odinga in Central Kenya.
His deputy, however, has built a strong base in this area by capturing most, if not all, popularly elected leaders over the last few years.
The battle for the top seat has seen Deputy President William Ruto and his rival Raila Odinga push their crawls out.
The Deputy President has been on a recent trip to the US and the UK, where he raised issues regarding electoral reforms that need to be in place to ensure free and fair elections.
The DP had been categorical in saying that in 2022 the election will not be stolen.
On the other hand, Raila has been enjoying political power, an opposition leader being involved in key government projects, with some political critics, saying that most of his powers are stripped off from the Deputy President.
Raila is not the only beneficiary of the Handshake. Another key beneficiary is larger Nyanza region. Kisumu county, over the years, has been a hostile ground to the government and its supporters.
Due to the hostility, the region had not received many government projects until after the Handshake.
After the Handshake, President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Kisumu on a 3-day tour in the Nyanza region.
The President at that time presented goodies to the region in the form of multi-billion-shilling projects. Some of the projects included the rehabilitation of the Kisumu Port, road constructions, water projects, and the revamping of the Nairobi-Kisumu railway line.
As Kenyans mark the 4th anniversary of the Handshake, they can only wait to see how the political future will shape itself ahead of the 2022 general election.