In the lead up to the 2002 General Election, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's decision to pair up with then President Daniel Arap Moi caused ripples across the country.
Many wondered why the once vocal opposition leader, who had at some point found himself inside Moi's infamous torture chambers, would join his arch-rival.
In his autobiography, The Flame of Freedom, Odinga revealed that despite starting out under the guise of pushing for constitutional reforms, he had a card under his sleeve.
"It was necessary to break Kanu from within and end its 40-year stranglehold on the nation. I embraced these concepts as my mission,” an excerpt of Raila's book disclosed.
Raila had joined KANU party in hopes of eventually taking over the reins once Moi stood down but he quickly learned that the self-proclaimed 'professor of politics' had a card up his sleeve as well.
The mind-boggling political marriage between the two was characterised by suspicion and mistrust which in the end led to its doom.
Moi had been grooming Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's son, Uhuru Kenyatta, to take over as his chosen successor, but Raila, through his numerous sources, found out Moi's secret plans and quickly set about to sabotage the party (in which he was secretary general at the time) from within.
“Moi had other plans. Several of his close confidants, presumably wary of my growing influence, clearly wanted to ensure I was stopped in my tracks – and they decided Uhuru was the man to do it,” Raila divulged in his book.
He quietly went about recruiting allies and people in the party who felt slighted by Moi’s choice of successor, bringing together the likes of Prof George Saitoti, Musalia Mudavadi, Katana Ngala and Kalonzo Musyoka.
The highly influential group formed the Rainbow Alliance, however, Mudavadi and Ngala so turned tail and rejoined Mzee Moi.
Nevertheless, Raila's grand scheme worked as he soon decided to sacrifice his own ambitions and back Mr Kibaki to stem the tide. On October 14, 2002, at a huge rally in Uhuru Park, Odinga made the famous ‘Kibaki Tosha’ declaration that ended Moi's 24-year rule.
