Raila visits Matiba

Raila Odinga on Friday met former opposition leader and one time political detainee Kenneth Matiba ahead of his controversial visit to Murang’a on Saturday.

The PM, accompanied by his wife Ida and Medical Services Minister Anyang Nyong’o visited Mr Matiba at his Riara Ridge home in Rironi, Limuru, where they discussed past and current events and Raila’s visit to Murang’a on Saturday.

During the late afternoon discussions, Matiba, flanked by his wife Edith, was in high spirits and exuded confidence that he is on the path to full recovery.

The two reminisced about their life as political detainees and agreed to meet former Minister Charles Rubia. Matiba said Rubia visits him often.

He welcomed the PM to Murang’a and asked him to pay attention to the state of roads in the region.

Without betraying any signs of bitterness and with anecdotes from his personal life, Matiba talked repeatedly of "the history of injustices in Kenya."

"Some of the things that have happened in Kenya are very, very sad. Sometimes I count myself lucky," said Matiba.

He also talked about the many missed opportunities that would have put the nation ahead.

He lamented that there are "too many things that have never been made known."

Responding to Matiba, Raila said he would be accompanied by the ministers for Roads, Medical Services, Cooperatives and Water to address the issues the locals want him to tackle.

The PM said he was not a stranger in Murang’a, recalling that Matiba once took him on a tour of the entire district and later visited Matiba’s ancestral home. The PM said he in turn took Matiba to a four-day tour of Nyanza.

The two talked about their life in detention at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison with Matiba saying in those days, even medical doctors were part of the Government’s terror network.

Torture system

"Medics were part and parcel of the torture system," he said.

Raila recalled that one doctor who had prescribed for him drugs for high blood pressure which he did not need while he was in detention at Manyani, was the same one who followed him and Matiba to Kamiti and insisted that the former Ford Asili leader was well when he was ill.

"All that is in the past and the challenge is for us to continue the struggle that we began and drive it to conclusion," Raila said.

The Prime Minister will visit Kigumo on Saturday and tour various parts of the former greater Muranga District. Raila will initiate and inaugurate a number of Government and self-sponsored projects. The projects were selected and presented to him by civic and community leaders from the region in a memorandum presented three weeks ago.

On Thursday, the PM held consultations with four MPs from the greater Muranga District over the trip.

The meeting at Treasury reviewed the programme and finer details of the PM’s visit.

Three weeks ago, civic and community leaders from Kigumo petitioned the PM to visit the area and view the state of the roads and also listen to the tribulations of tea and coffee farmers.

During the tour of Muranga, the PM will commission the Gacharage Tea Factory and address problems afflicting farmers in both agricultural and dairy sectors.

The leaders listed a number of roads they wanted improved to help farmers ship their surplus produce to other marketing outlets that offered better pricing compared to those within their localities.