Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s controversial defeat in the last general elections resulted to an outcry from his supporters, some of whom threatened of consequences were he not crowned President.
In the run up to the repeat presidential election, Odinga urged his supporters to boycott the repeat poll, claiming that he would take an oath as President.
Odinga, however, delayed his promise forcing some of his lieutenants to start issuing threats.
One of these was Nyando lawmaker Jared Okello who threatened to resign from his seat in December 2017, if Odinga would not be sworn in as president.
The statement would later receive the needed hyping and redirected all the interested eyes towards the lawmaker, as Kenyans waited for his 2-week timeline to lapse and watch his next move.
On December 28, 2017, Okello, however, made a u-turn against his initial stand, adding that he will remain parliament and fight for his party leader from within.
This he based on assurances from Odinga to his supporters that he would go ahead to conduct a mock inauguration which would see him crowned as the ‘People’s President’.
“Since I made that pronouncement (to resign if Raila is not sworn in), Odinga has coincidentally reaffirmed his commitment to carry the Bible, and take oath of office. He has highlighted the measures to be taken before the grand event,’’ the MP from Kisumu County was quoted by the Standard.
And though Okello defended his move, to many it was just a bid to correct his initial remark, retain his seat, and abandon Raila as his resignation would not have any effect on the fact that the former Premier had suffered another loss.
On January 30, Raila went ahead to take the oath in the presence of thousands of amused supporters in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park, in an event that was heavily attended by his supporters.
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