President Uhuru Kenyatta is currently in the UK and while speaking at Chatham House on Tuesday, he revealed that the main reasons why he agreed to work with NASA leader Raila Odinga have nothing to do with 2022 politics.
He stated that as much as political competition is healthy, mature democracy is the ultimate goal.
"Political competition as I have said it is part of any democracy but I believe that, mature democracy recognizes that we can have our opposing views but still be able to reach bipartisan agreements on all those matters that concern our people.
"We are not looking to lead different people. We are looking to lead the same people. We have so much to achieve in order to ensure we create full employment in order to ensure we create proper health facilities for our people; in order to ensure that we have the right education facilities.
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"We cannot do all these things without one another. So, mine as I consistently say is to encourage leaders to allow constructive debate that allows people to come together to discuss those issues that we share in common," he remarked.
He emphasised that the handshake was not about political alliances in 2022 as many people are purporting.
"When we look at the agenda we have, when we look at the agenda the Opposition was also presenting to the people of Kenya, we want a better life for our people, we want better health for our people...
"We are not going to be able to do this shouting at one another, we need to bring Kenyans together and say if we agree on these issues, despite the fact that we may differ on other political agenda, on these ones we can come together and bring our people together and achieve it," he added.
A visit by the ODM leader to former President Daniel Moi’s Kabarak home last week left tongues wagging and sparked debate about the 2022 presidential election.
The meeting came just a month after the former Prime Minister met President Kenyatta and many politicians questioned their motive.
Reports indicated that the talks (between Raila and Moi) also dwelt on the Baringo senator Gideon Moi's interest in the presidency in 2022.
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