Raila Odinga just made his fourth political deal with a sitting government when he signed the Kenya Kwanza-ODM Framework Agreement. President William Ruto and Raila officially put their names on this partnership document last Friday, standing together with officials from both their parties. The signs pointed toward this happening after Ruto started bringing Raila's top people into his Cabinet.
Throughout his long political journey, Raila has repeatedly found ways to gain power and influence in governments formed by previous rivals who defeated him at the ballot box. He managed similar political arrangements with former Presidents Daniel Arap Moi back in 2001, Mwai Kibaki in 2008, and Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018. Each deal shocked many observers across Kenya.
The political world gasped when Moi brought Raila into his Cabinet years ago. After starting the National Development Party, Raila merged it with Kanu, creating what they called New Kanu. Moi gave Cabinet positions to Raila and several other NDP leaders as part of their agreement. Raila served as Minister for Energy from June 2001 until 2002, when he left because Moi picked Uhuru as his preferred presidential candidate.
Kibaki named Raila as Prime Minister in a new power-sharing government in April 2008. This arrangement ended weeks of dangerous stalemate following the deadly violence that came after the disputed 2007 election. More than 1,200 people died, and 600,000 lost their homes during Kenya's worst post-election bloodshed since independence. Ten years later, Kenyans watched in amazement as Uhuru and Raila shook hands at Harambee House, the presidential office building in Nairobi, creating what became known as the "handshake" agreement, despite Raila's earlier claims that Uhuru had stolen the 2017 election.
Throughout his long political journey, Raila has repeatedly found ways to gain power and influence in governments formed by previous rivals who defeated him at the ballot box. He managed similar political arrangements with former Presidents Daniel Arap Moi back in 2001, Mwai Kibaki in 2008, and Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018. Each deal shocked many observers across Kenya.
The political world gasped when Moi brought Raila into his Cabinet years ago. After starting the National Development Party, Raila merged it with Kanu, creating what they called New Kanu. Moi gave Cabinet positions to Raila and several other NDP leaders as part of their agreement. Raila served as Minister for Energy from June 2001 until 2002, when he left because Moi picked Uhuru as his preferred presidential candidate.
Kibaki named Raila as Prime Minister in a new power-sharing government in April 2008. This arrangement ended weeks of dangerous stalemate following the deadly violence that came after the disputed 2007 election. More than 1,200 people died, and 600,000 lost their homes during Kenya's worst post-election bloodshed since independence. Ten years later, Kenyans watched in amazement as Uhuru and Raila shook hands at Harambee House, the presidential office building in Nairobi, creating what became known as the "handshake" agreement, despite Raila's earlier claims that Uhuru had stolen the 2017 election.
