Siaya Senator James Orengo has rubbished claims by Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi that international pressure forced ODM boss Raila Odinga to reconcile with President Uhuru Kenyatta in what culminated into the March 9, 2018 handshake between the two political rivals.
In his memoir titled: 'Soaring above: The storms and passions', Mudavadi documents the events that transpired before Uhuru and Raila called a truce to their bitter political rivalry especially after the divisive 2017 general election.
According to Mudavadi, Raila kept them (NASA principals) in the dark before his controversial swearing-in as the people's President on January 30, 2018, and the subsequent handshake.
"There was not even the slightest hint that anything of this nature could be going on. The handshake of Friday, March 9, between the two gentlemen, came as a shocker," Mudavadi said in his memoir as quoted by the Standard.
However, in a quick rebuttal, Orengo refuted Mudavadi's claims.
"There were pressures from all quarters, but Raila Amollo Odinga and especially the leadership of ODM never yielded to those pressures. And that is why we had the swearing-in on 30, January 2018. Subsequently, after the swearing-in, Raila had his Visa to the UK cancelled. Mine too," Orengo said in a video shared on Facebook by Daily Nation.
According to the Siaya Senator, the political truce between Raila and Uhuru was as a result of the two leaders' desire to heal the country after the polarizing election that left the nation divided right at the middle.