Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Ahmed Issack Hassan ended his rivalry with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga with a cologne gift.
In his memoir 'Referee of a Dirty Ugly Game', Issack recalled gifting Raila cologne and a fragrance for Ida Odinga. Coupled with other inflight gifts, the duo ended a two-year rivalry after the 2013 Presidential Election results where former President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner.
A truce between Raila and Issack came as a coincidence. In the memoir, the former IEBC boss, who served from November 2011 to October 2016, recalled bumping into the former Prime Minister at an airport in Dubai.
Issack was on his way from New York while Raila had flown in from Morocco in March 2015. the two were travelling back to Nairobi and had, unexpectedly, booked the same plane.
In his narration, Hassan disclosed that Raila called him over to sit next to him on the plane. Immediately after the plane took off, the issue of the 2013 election loss cropped up.
The former IEBC Chairman indicated that Raila was disheartened by IEBC's lawyer who described him as a 'perennial loser who never accepted defeat.'
"Your lawyer (name withheld) called me a perennial loser. How could he do that?" Raila posed.
The former IEBC boss apologised to Raila effectively ending the bitter rivalry that had been extended for two years that had formed part of the public rallies held by Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) members.
According to Hassan, the apology and a bottle of cologne was enough to end the bad blood between them.
"I even did some shopping for him from the inflight duty-free on the plane, as a peace token. I bought a cologne for him and a fragrance for his wife, Ida.
"I had hoped that we would bury the hatchet, and it would allay some of the bile against me from him and the CORD team," he wrote.
Raila invited him to his office a week later to confirm their newfound friendship. During the meeting, Hassan recalled being confronted by a section of CORD leaders regarding the 2013 Presidential Election. However, Raila intervened, informing him that the issue had been ironed out.
"It was a significant moment for me when Raila acknowledged before his team that the matter was now water under the bridge," he added.
A new olive branch helped the former IEBC boss to get rid of the bad memories including a confrontation that had ensued between them on the eve of the Presidential Elections results announcement.
Raila had shut down Hassan accusing him of chasing CORD agents from the national tallying centre.
"The results from the total tallies show that Uhuru Kenyatta has won and you are the runner-up. It would be a good thing, and helpful for the country if you would concede early to allow the country to...." Issack recalled trying to convince Raila before he harshly intervened.
"No, no, no… are you sure about that? You know my team was not happy that you chased them away from the tallying centre. You have not done the proper audit of the 100 constituencies we listed for the commission," disappointed Raila told the former IEBC boss.
