Nairobi News

State House on Friday referred to Nasa leader Raila Odinga as His Excellency, a sharp contrast from the past statements in which they would refer to him as Rt. Honorable.

The eight-paged joint statement titled “Building Bridges to a New Kenyan Nation” bore the signatures of both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.

The statement was forwarded to newsrooms by the national communications centre as the President had told the press that they would receive a more detailed statement.

The statement captured details of how both leaders would work together to ensure inclusivity, fight corruption, ethnicity, support devolution and ensure safety and security of all Kenyans.

“H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta and H.E Raila Odinga have agreed to roll out a programme that will implement their shared objectives. The programme shall establish an office and retain a retinue of advisors to assist in this implementation. They have mandated both Ambassador Martin Kimani and Mr Paul Mwangi to oversee the establishment of this programme. An official launch shall be held soon,” read the statement.

STRONG NATION

On ethnicity, the statement read in part, “A strong nation cannot develop in this way. H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta and H.E. Raila Odinga are standing together to urge every Kenyan, every political leader and formation to compete without using ethnic profiling or by promoting disdain for any group.”

On inclusivity, they stated, “H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta and H.E Raila Odinga commit themselves to make the strongest efforts to find the right skills and attitude from as many backgrounds and identities as possible.”

Regarding devolution, “H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta and H.E Raila Odinga will work together to bring counties together regardless of the political affiliations of their Governor, Senators and MCAs.”

Kenyans who read through the statement noticed the reference of Raila Odinga as His Excellency.