AUGUST 14, 2018.
RAILA BRIEFS MERU LEADERS ON BUILDING BRIDGES INITIATIVE:
H.E. Raila Odinga this afternoon received a delegation of leaders from the counties of Meru and Tharaka Nithi at his Capitol Hill offices.
The delegation comprised business leaders, professionals and former Members of Parliament led by former Education Assistant Minister Dr. Kilemi Mwiria.
Among the delegation were former MPs Raphael Muriungi, Petkey Miriti, Gideon Mwiti, David Karithi and Joseph Mwenda.
Members of the delegation expressed strong support for the war on graft and impunity, conservation of the environment and the desire to reform the conduct of elections in Kenya.
The leaders commended Mr Odinga for closing ranks with President Uhuru Kenyatta. They credited the “handshake” between the two leaders for the sense of hope taking roots in the country and an improved environment for doing business.
They also credited the “handshake” for the de-ethnicization of the war on corruption and impunity and appealed to the two leaders to be merciless with the corrupt.
They invited Mr. Odinga and the President to visit their region and show the country “the new formation” that is changing the country for the better.
Mr. Odinga asked the leaders to take lead in selling the nine-point agenda in the Building Bridges to the New Kenyan Nation, describing it as the country’s last chance to build a united nation.
“We have operated as a collection of ethnic enclaves and marginalised regions for far too long. We have a last chance to build a nation,” Mr. Odinga said.
He expressed concern that elections in Kenya have become mini wars in which voters are bundled together by tribe and region. “We have agreed with the President to build a nation out of the bits and pieces we have divided our country into and we are determined to give it our best efforts,” Odinga said.
Mr. Odinga appealed to Kenyans to unite against corruption, saying the vice is responsible for many of the problems Kenyans are going through, including missed development targets and ever rising cost of living.
He promised to visit Meru and Tharaka Nithi soon to explain the “handshake.”
END.
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