PRESIDENT-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto reportedly met Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Nairobi on Monday night.
The meeting was held around 9pm in the evening. Ruto landed at 6pm at Wilson Airport after a family holiday in Arusha and drove straight to the private home of a businessman in Nairobi.
While in Tanzania, Ruto also held talks with President Jakaya Kikwete. Raila spent Monday at his Karen home meeting aides and allies. Uhuru contacted him during the day to arrange the meeting.
Raila was yesterday at an exclusive resort in Narok South. He was last seen in public on Saturday when he announced he was accepting the decision by the Supreme Court that Uhuru had been legitimately elected president.
Yesterday aides to both Raila and Uhuru refused to comment on the alleged meeting. Uhuru apparently wanted to reach out to Raila to reconcile the different factions inside Kenya.
Uhuru reportedly had wanted to hold a joint press conference with Raila on Sunday to assure their supporters that they would work together to unite the country.
Insiders revealed that the talks briefly touched on how an Uhuru led government could work with Raila if he was interested. According to the sources, Uhuru would be ready to work with everybody including the Cord leadership.
However some top officials within the Jubilee coalition are said to be jittery of having Raila in government and would not want him offered any job more than that of being a special envoy for the country.
It is not clear how Raila responded in the meeting and what his plans are for the next five years. Uhuru and Ruto were apparently concerned about an interview with Raila broadcast by the BBC shortly after the Supreme Court ruling on Saturday.
Raila told the BBC that Uhuru's victory on March 4 was "predetermined and manipulated by a few technocrats".
"It is a replica of what exactly happened in 2007. What is the point of going to polls if results are going to be pre-determined? Voter apathy will be high in the next five years and Kenyans may look for other ways. We want to avoid people looking for other means," Raila told the BBC.
Uhuru and Ruto are said to have appealed to Raila to stop making such comments to assist their efforts to unite the country after the elections.
Uhuru and Raila won the election with 50.07 percent, just 8,000 votes more than he needed to win, but a considerable 800,000 votes ahead of Raila who received 43.7 percent.
"I sincerely thank my brother, the honourable Raila Odinga for wishing us well and indeed reach out to him and our other worthy competitors to join us so that we can work together in the interest of the well being of our people," Uhuru said in a televised message on Saturday after the Supreme Court verdict.
Raila will officially leave office on Tuesday, April 9, the day Uhuru will be inaugurated as the fourth President of Kenya. He is expected to hand over state resources at his disposal between now and Monday.
The Prime Minister’s office at Shell BP House, which he has been using for the last five years, will be renamed the Office of the Deputy President, with William Ruto as its new occupant.
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