[President Uhuru Kenyatta when he officially launched the SGR. He has been warned against using the project as a campaign tool. Courtesy: The Star]
Opposition coalition NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga has cautioned President Uhuru Kenyatta against using the launch of the Standard Gauge Railway project as a campaign tool ahead of the August polls.Speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing in Nairobi, the former Prime Minister further welcomed 'Madaraka Express' services, thanking the Chinese government for agreeing to partner with Kenya to ensure the completion of the project. "We in ODM and NASA welcome the project and don't oppose it. But he should not use the railway as a tool for campaigns," he said.The opposition chief was also quick to note that the project was an idea conceptualised by the grand coalition government where he served as a premier alongside retired President Mwai Kibaki."We were the ones who negotiated with the Chinese government. It has only been completed under Jubilee's watch. Let them launch it as a national project," he said.President Kenyatta launched the modern Madaraka Express passenger train service in Mombasa on Wednesday, praising the project as "historical."“This is a historic day...a day when everyone of us should feel proud to be Kenyan,” he said, adding it was a milestone in transformation to an industrialised, prosperous and middle-income country," he said.