Raila flies to Europe after Stars match

Posted by CATHERINE KARONGO on October 9, 2011 NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 9 – Prime Minister Raila Odinga is in Europe for an official visit. The Premier is expected to tour several countries in Europe during his weeklong visit. Odinga left the country on Saturday night upon arrival from Uganda where he led a high powered government delegation to cheer up the national football team in an encounter with the Cranes. “The premier switched flights for the Europe bound plane at around 11 PM shortly after jetting in from Kampala where Harambee Stars played the cranes in the ongoing African Cup of Nation qualifying match at the Nelson Mandela Namboole Stadium,” a statement from his office said. At least 12 Members of Parliament including Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka joined thousands of local fans to cheer the team which settled on a barren draw with the host during a return match that sealed that fate of the two countries in the continental championship. Technically, the two teams failed to proceed to the next level in the tournament on points aggregate as they were placed on third and second slots in their group standings after Angola topped the table with 12 points. The Ugandan and Kenyan teams bagged ten and eight points respectively at the preliminaries in an encounter that saw the Harambee stars deny the cranes the crucial win to top the group. The Harambee stars with seven points had limited options in the tournament ahead of the match compared to the cranes who had already secured nine points. During the trip, Odinga met his Ugandan counterpart Amama Mbabazi shortly after his chartered plane landed at the Entebbe International Airport.