Njamba ya Bururi

Prime Minister Raila Odinga was received in Central Province on Saturday with placards declaring him a national hero.

The scenes that greeted Mr Odinga as his motorcade made its way to Kigumo constituency in Murang’a were a sharp contrast to the hostility that marked his campaigns in Central Province in the run up to the 2007 General Election.

Crowds lined the roadsides and trading centres waving Mr Odinga’s portraits, some titled “Njamba ya Bururi (National Hero)”.

Security was tight with truckloads of General Service Unit personnel patrolling the area. The GSU were deployed to the area on Friday.

The PM’s convoy made eight stopovers between Thika town and Kangari Primary School grounds, where he addressed the final rally. At every stop, the PM spoke on the need for national unity.

At Kigumo Trading Centre shops were closed and people perched on the rooftops to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by nine ODM ministers, several assistant ministers and MPs.

Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau did not attend the function as he is in Australia on official duty with members of the Parliamentary Service Commission.

Maragua’s Elias Mbau, one of the MPs from the area who welcomed Mr Odinga, criticised Mr Kamau for skipping the event. Mr Kamau came under heavy criticism from the leaders led by Mr Mbau, Kiambu’s Stanley Githunguri and Mr Kamau’s predecessor Kihara Mwangi for skipping the rally.

Mr Mbau said “a man does not run away and leave his wife to another man”. “Let us embrace everyone, their tribal background notwithstanding”.

Mr Odinga said the country lagged behind in development because leaders were using the tribal card to divide Kenyans. He noted that at independence, Kenya’s economy was growing at the same rate as South Korea’s, but divisive politics had reduced the country to a pauper.

The PM said the country still had the potential to join the league of the fast developing Asian economies such as China, Malaysia and Singapore. “We must stand up and say a big No to tribalism,” he said.

Kenya, he noted, was being compared with its neighbours Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Rwanda in terms of development and national cohesion because of tribal divisions.

“When Jaramogi declared ‘Uhuru na Kenyatta’ and when in 2002 I said ‘Kibaki Tosha’, I knew they were Kikuyus but my desire was to see that all tribes were united,” he said.

He said while freedom fighters, including those of the Second Liberation such as Charles Rubia and Kenneth Matiba – whom he visited on Friday afternoon at his Riara Ridge home – had fought for a united Kenya, it was regrettable that current leaders were dividing Kenyans along tribal lines for their selfish interests.