Okiya Omtata Proposes Mechanism to End Handshake Disputes 

Human Rights activist Okiya Omtata on Thursday proposed a solution that would see Kenyans end the problems associated with the handshake.

Speaking at a local TV station, Omtata noted that the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga only managed to calm the political temperatures momentarily. 

According to Omtata, the handshake had only postponed a problem, which the country needed to address once and for all.

He stated that the only way to ensure that the country had peace was to have free and fair elections, and everything else would fall into place.

“We need to get to a point where we hold tamper-proof elections which speak for themselves whereby the winner is the winner and the loser is the loser, therefore, we don't have things like the handshake and government of national unity," he stated.

Before the March 9, 2018 handshake between President Kenyatta and Odinga, the country was on the brink of tearing into two.

This was after Raila made a daring move to swear himself in as the people’s President, which only heightened the tensions even further.

The handshake has since brought some relative peace to the country despite opposition from some sections of the ruling party.

Confidants of Deputy President William Ruto have vigorously criticized the gesture since they feel that it was meant to block the DP from ascending to the presidency.

Ruto has also been castigating the handshake claiming that Odinga was trying to reap where he did not sow. 

The DP's stance has reportedly caused a strain between himself and the president, with observers noting that such politics might sideline the government's agenda to the detriment of Kenyans.