Raila, Ruto Sing Happy Birthday to Uhuru [VIDEO]

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (right), President Uhuru Kenyatta (center) and Deputy President William Ruto at Bomas of Kenya on Monday, October 26, 2020.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (right), President Uhuru Kenyatta (center) and Deputy President William Ruto at Bomas of Kenya on Monday, October 26, 2020.
Twitter

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto joined 6,000 delegates in singing happy birthday to President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Bomas of Kenya.

The congregation surprised the Head of State on Monday, October 26, during the launch of the Building Bridges Intiative (BBI) report launch.

This comes even as reports insinuated that the launch was Raila's gift to the Head of State on his 59th birthday.

The move is a sharp contrast considering that for decades, the two leaders belonged to opposing divides with the most tense period being the Head of State's 56th birthday in 2017.

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and ODM party leader Raila Odinga shaking hands outside Harambee House on March 9, 2018.
President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and ODM party leader Raila Odinga shaking hands outside Harambee House on March 9, 2018.
Twitter

October 26, 2017 (Uhuru's 56th birthday), coincided with Kenya's repeat election in which the President and former Prime Minister were gearing up to occupy the top office.

The former Prime Minister even opted out of the polls in an attempt to deny Uhuru the legitimacy of winning the presidency.

The mountain region, on the other hand, under the Kumira Kumira slogan, was gearing to hand its son (Uhuru) a second win after the Supreme Court nullified the first round of that year's election.

The case seeking the nullification over rigging claims had been instigated by Raila's team and their success assured them a shot at the presidency.

When the former prime minister lost the election to Uhuru on October 26, he took matters into his own hands in January 2018 when he decided to swear himself in as the people's president, an act that contribute to lawyer Miguna Miguna's deportation.

Three months down the line, on March 9, 2018, the two leaders agreed to bury the hatchet, which existed during the tenure's of their fathers, through a handshake.

So phenomenal was their unity that it altered the nature of the political landscape across the country and led to calls to alter sections of the constitution, hence the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which was founded in November 2019.

While working on the the document, teams allied to the two leaders found a common ground to operate while edging out those allied to Deputy President William Ruto who appeared to oppose the document.

According to the committee chaired by Garissa Yussuf Haji, the report was aimed at building cohesion across the country by collecting views from citizens.

Among the changes is the re-introduction of the powerful Prime Minister post.

Today, on President Uhuru's 59th birthday, the report is set to be launched ushering in a new era only that Raila, the man who conceived the report, will stand toe to toe with him during the launch.

Below is the video:

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