African Union special envoy Raila Odinga has been evasive on addressing claims that the Kenyan government was denied a Sh368 billion loan by the Chinese government during their recent trip with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The opposition leader on Monday met a delegation from Garissa County at his Capitol Hill office, but he never shed more light on the matter.
He, instead asked why the media has been putting him under pressure to comment on the trip.
He said that meeting with the Garissa leaders was not meant to discuss the matter.
Odinga and President Kenyatta had allegedly traveled to China to get the loan for the extension of the standard gauge railway (SGR) line from Naivasha to Kisumu.
“I don’t know why the media is so much into the China trip… State House has issued a statement clarifying the matter. This meeting (with Garissa leaders) was never about the China trip,” he said.
The speculations that the government had been denied the loan elicited mixed reactions from different factions.
A section of critics of the handshake faulted Odinga for accompanying the Head of State to China for the loan.
State House, however, clarified that the talks between Kenya and China was not meant for the loan.