Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's brother Oburu Oginga has revealed an instance in which Raila was nearly beaten up by a former Cabinet Minister.
In his account of events detailed in his upcoming book titled 'In The Shadow of My Father', Oburu noted that former Minister for Roads Kipkalya Kones was so riled up one fateful evening that he nearly punched Raila while the latter was in a meeting in his Runda home.
The tension began building up a few months leading to the 2002 elections that Mwai Kibaki emerged victorious for the Presidency.
Oburu noted that the realignments started in October 2002 after the then President Daniel Moi made it clear that he would be supporting Uhuru Kenyatta for the top job.
Kibaki had expressed interest for the Presidency and was backed by Charity Ngilu and Kijana Wamalwa under the National Alliance of Kenya (NAK) coalition.
Raila, whose party at the time was not yet confirmed, was open for coalitions and was even set to meet Moody Awori, Moses Wetangula and Fred Gumo who were planning to decamp from the Kenya African National Union (KANU).
Kalonzo and Mudavadi, however, never moved as they retained their positions in KANU.
When Raila and his team were set to go for a meeting, the late George Saitoti, who had been relieved of his Vice President duties and was eying to succeed Moi, joined the gathering.
In the new team led by Raila, Moody Awori had been fronted as a Presidential contestant but he declined - noting that his age was too advanced.
Saitoti was, however, sidelined during negotiations over who should fly the coalition's flag. The members accused the former VP of being unbothered by the logistics of carrying out rallies as though he was not aware that he had joined the opposition.
"I vividly remember what happened during one trip to the Coast where we had many successful rallies. We scheduled rallies along the way and made taxing detours as we spoke to people and sold our policies.
"Saitoti did not join us in the itinerary. He instead took a plane down to Mombasa. We saw him when we were leaving the hotel before he popped up to address the huge Mombasa rally we had organised. Saitoti had not even bothered to know the problems we had encountered along the way," narrated Oburu.
As the intrigues went on, Raila had another plan in mind. He observed that Moi and Uhuru had put up an incredible team and would defeat them. He came up with an unpopular opinion of supporting Kibaki.
The team then planned to attend a rally at Uhuru Park on October 13, 2002, where Kibaki and his battalion had been invited. Raila had secretly planned to declare his support for Kibaki during the rally.
On the other hand, Simeon Nyachae, who was the leader of Ford-People party and wanted Raila's support for the top job, was also not amused by the latter's sudden change of heart.
After the rally, Oburu narrates, the team agreed to meet at Raila's Runda house. Kones, who was Nyachae's Lieutenant, also followed the group and he was furious.
"He was so annoyed that when he burst into Raila's home, he went directly for Raila. It took us time to realise that Kones was heading to punch Raila.
"It was a season of high emotions and Kones had clearly blown his top. To assault a man was one thing but to assault a man in his own home was another matter all together," explained Oburu noting that they intervened and blocked Kones from proceeding with his plans.
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