The handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga was a closely guarded secret, which was only known by very few individuals.
In a surprise move that shocked the country, Uhuru, who had been at loggerheads with Raila for months over the 2017 polls, reconciled with the ODM leader and agreed to work together to unite Kenyans.
Recalling the events which surrounded the March 2018 historical moment, Musalia Mudavadi, the ANC leader concedes that he was caught off guard.
Months earlier, Mudavadi was the chief campaigner of Odinga.
In his book 'Soaring Above the Storms of Passion', Mudavadi says he learnt about the handshake from Vihiga Senator George Khaniri.
While driving to Mombasa, he recalls, Khaniri called him to establish whether or not he was aware of the development.
“A flurry of other phone calls flowed in. Kalonzo called me to ask if I was aware of what was going on. I told him I was unaware," Mudavadi said as quoted by Nation.
He says pressure mounted on him from a wide range of callers, who wanted to know what was going on, “bearing in mind that I had been the chief campaigner.”
“They wanted to know whether we were now going into a coalition government with Jubilee," he opined.
On the January 30, 2018, mock swearing-in, Mudavadi said there was no consensus about it.
According to him, several meetings had been held in which diplomats cautioned them against it.
“The first one was at Raila’s office at Capitol Hill, where we met with foreign diplomats accredited to Kenya, religious leaders and leaders from the business community. They pleaded with us not to carry on with the swearing-in plans,” Mudavadi said.