Pan African Visions

Kenya:Raila visits Githurai, booed by a section of youths

January 27, 2021

By Samuel Ouma

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, January 27, rallied Githurai (an estate at the border of Nairobi and Kiambu counties) residents to support the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI).

Youths allied to the deputy President attempted to disrupt the Raila’s roadside rally by chanting “hustler slogan” synonymous with the second in command.

Nevertheless, the youths were pushed back by the AU envoy’s supporters.

The hustler faction resorted to throwing stones at Raila’s convoy forcing the police to hurl teargas at the youths to disperse them.

The opposition chief urged the youths to support the initiative saying it would bring positive and transformative change.

"BBI is not about me; it's for a better Kenya, which entails bringing stability and a peaceful working environment for any Kenyan without tribe or ethnicity,"

At the same time, he reminded the youths of the Jubilee government's promises, which are yet to be fulfilled with eight years gone.

Raila mentioned the laptop project, creating jobs, and building stadia as some of the areas where Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration has failed.

"They promised you 1million jobs. By now, you should have 8million jobs…have you seen them?" he asked.

He continued, "Some of our children are about to sit for KCPE exams, but they are yet to see the laptops they were promised."

He further called on the youths not to be swayed by the "Wheelbarrow" narrative spearheaded by Ruto.

"Most of you are learned, but now you are being promised wheelbarrows…Is that the kind of change you want?" He asked the youth.

On Tuesday, the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) gave the County Assemblies green light to debate the document after verifying 1.14 million signatures from the 4.5 million collected for the Building Bridges Initiative referendum.

The verification exercise confirmed that 1,140,845 registered voters had supported the initiative. This is, therefore, to notify stakeholders and the general public that the initiative has met the requisite threshold as provided in Article 257 (4) of the constitution of Kenya, 2010,” said IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati.

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