Uhuru Must Explain Why He Handed Power to Ruto If Raila Won - Oburu Hits Back

ODM leader Oburu Oginga has challenged former President Uhuru Kenyatta following his remarks that former Prime Minister, the Late Raila Odinga, won the 2022 presidential election.

In a statement on Thursday, September 24, Oburu said the remarks confirmed what ODM had believed and maintained at the time, although the party eventually accepted the outcome after pursuing the available constitutional avenues.

"For ODM, this confirms what we believed and maintained at the time. However, after exhausting the constitutional avenues available to us, we chose to let the matter rest and move the country forward," the statement read.

Oburu, however, questioned the role played by Uhuru and his administration in the transfer of power to President William Ruto, whom Uhuru says lost the election.

"We did so even as President Kenyatta and those around him looked the other way and handed the instruments of power over to William Ruto, whom the former President now says had lost the election," the statement added.

Oburu said ODM had made significant political sacrifices during its relationship with Uhuru, particularly after the 2018 Handshake between Uhuru and Raila.

Following the Handshake, Oburu said ODM lowered its political ambitions in the interest of national unity and stability and did not demand Cabinet or administrative positions in Uhuru's government despite its political strength.

The party also made concessions ahead of the 2022 election, including giving up its pursuit of key elective positions such as the Nairobi gubernatorial seat, as it sought to support its presidential candidature and the wider coalition project.

"We made those compromises in good faith. Now that President Kenyatta has chosen to exhume the deeply painful question of the 2022 election, he owes Kenyans some answers," the statement further read.

Oburu raised three questions about Uhuru's remarks, including why the former President was making the revelation four years after the election rather than when the alleged electoral injustice occurred.

He also questioned why Uhuru's government facilitated the transfer of power to Ruto if the former President was convinced that Raila had won, and what Uhuru expected Kenyans to do with the information today.

"These are not academic questions. Elections concern the sovereign will of the people and the legitimacy of government. President Kenyatta must understand that his statement touches a raw nerve within ODM and among millions of Kenyans who stood with Raila Odinga," the statement noted.

Oburu further said the 2022 election and the sacrifices made by Raila should not be used as material for contemporary political campaigns.

"The 2022 election and the sacrifices of our departed Party Leader must not be reduced to material for contemporary vote-winning propaganda. Having reopened this matter, President Kenyatta should tell the country the whole story," the statement concluded.

This comes days after the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) responded to Uhuru over the remarks.

In a statement on Tuesday, September 22, the party disputed Uhuru’s position and maintained that Ruto won the election, while accusing the retired president of continuing to dwell on the outcome of the contest.

UDA defended Ruto’s victory, claiming that the 2022 election outcome was decisive and accusing Uhuru of failing to come to terms with the result.

"Clearly, Uhuru has never healed from the humiliating defeat that he occasioned Raila in the hands of President William Ruto, even after employing State machinery. President William Ruto won the 2022 election decisively and conclusively. 

"For the past 4 years, Uhuru has constantly drowned in the reality of the loss and more devastatingly, the stamp of defeat that there was nothing he could do about it," the statement read.

UDA also raised allegations concerning events surrounding the 2022 election, including claims involving supporters of the party, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and events at the Bomas of Kenya on August 15, 2022.

"However, his unconstitutional shenanigans to subvert the will of Kenyans before, during and after that election are known and recorded for posterity - the disappearance of Kenyans who were committed to UDA, the threats to IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati and FINAL ACT at Bomas of Kenya on August 15, 2022, which collapsed," the statement added.