41 MPs from Mt. Kenya on Thursday, January 28, wrote a letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta saying that it will be a hard sell to push Raila Odinga as a presidential candidate in the Mt. Kenya region.
In an open letter seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the MPs stated that the Mt. Kenya region is reluctant to accept the handshake especially after Uhuru's previous adversarial relationship with the ODM leader in the past presidential elections.
"For 8 years, between 2011 and 2018, you consistently and persistently cautioned us that Raila Odinga was Kenya’s foremost problem, and pleaded with us to send him home for the country to move forward," they stated.
The MPs accused Odinga of spearheading divisive politics as a means of achieving power.
"As a result, he is an existential threat to the economy and national unity," they stated.
"We must be direct and truthful with you: We cannot sell Raila Odinga in our region or, indeed, any other imposed presidential candidate," reads the letter.
In addition, the leaders asked the president to use his remaining time in office to focus on “the declining economy, ailing health sector and deal with the elephant in the room of the crippling public debt.”
"We wish you to roar the economy back into life, and take it to Kibaki-era levels of growth, reverse the declining economy, ailing health sector and deal with the elephant in the room of the crippling public debt, and especially the conflicted domestic debt that has strangled the private sector."
They also accused Uhuru's government of condoning the harassment and persecution of political leaders with divergent views.
The MPs indicated that they would not have written the letter directly to the president if he had trusted his lieutenants who had the capability to represent him effectively in any forum.
"We would NOT have written this letter to you if such leaders existed in your government. We have strong doubts that David Murathe and Francis Atwoli are persons of the caliber we have in mind."
