By: Isaack Nyakundi
[wpsocialite]
Deputy President William Ruto is inching closer at getting Raila Odinga agree to work together with the Jubilee government in order to foster national unity. Ruto is said to be behind intense lobbying that will see the former Prime Minister play a significant role in regional and global Affairs.
Ruto is said to have succeeded at convincing Raila to take up top UN and AU assignments. “Raila does not need the government’s endorsement to be appointed a UN special envoy, he has enough connections and goodwill to get such assignments without blessings from Nairobi” said George Samwel a Nairobi based International Affairs expert.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s special guest at the inauguration -America civil rights activists confirmed that indeed Raila’s global standing is towering alluding to his magic at major international forums like United Nations and World Economic Forum.
There is also talk that Kalonzo may be offered a cabinet position- foreign affairs secretary but he is said to be reluctant as he is keen on joining parliament to take up the role of minority leader, a position he hopes can propel him to presidency come 2018.
Ruto who is known to be very practical and pragmatic is of the idea that to get the country united, the Jubilee regime must reach out to Odinga and his supporters sooner than later. An offer to rehabilitate Odinga’s orphans in government was also made and that those in corporate world like SK Macharia should never be victimized.
Endorsement by the Uhuru government will easy unnecessary tension and will see Raila accorded extra non binding government incentives like extra security and government staff in his secretariat.
Of urgent attention is the crisis at the great lakes region, the presence of Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museni and Joseph Kabila at Uhuru’s inauguration was a good start were UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to appoint Raila his special envoy to the great lakes region.
Raila has previously handled diplomatic assignments for the African Union, the most famous being the Ivory Coast mediation effort in 2011.
If Raila takes up the challenge and succeeds at restoring peace in the region he will be an automatic winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
On Saturday, Ruto’s efforts seem to have paid off as Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka held talks at statehouse Nairobi. The Media alert on the meeting went viral with supporters of both camps offering ceasefire in the online war that had persisted since March 8th.
Other pundits interpreted Ruto’s efforts as geared at dispensing with the ICC cases which he and president Uhuru are facing, it will be ha’rd for the Western Powers to listen to government directly as it is headed by a suspect hence they need a respectable outsider and that person is Raila Odinga.