President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to omit the names of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila Odinga and George Anyona from his Mashujaa Day recognition list has elicited sharp reaction from multiparty democracy advocate Abuya Abuya.
Uhuru mentioned a few individuals during the celebrations at Kenyatta stadium in Machakos County on Thursday despite the aforementioned individuals together with former trade unionist Tom Mboya playing critical roles in the history of the nation.
Speaking to this reporter moments after the function, Abuya accused Uhuru of ignoring people who ‘shaped’ the history of the nation terming the incident ‘a bad’ precedent to the history of Kenya.
“Traditionally, the Head of State could go ahead and mention a number of people who have played one role or the other in shaping the history of the nation. However, I am quite shocked that he failed to mention Oginga, Raila or even Anyona,” he said.
“It’s a bad precedence to fail to mention people who have shaped the history of the country. That won’t go down well with people who have lived enough to see the country transforming,” he added.
Among the three names which Uhuru omitted, Raila is the only surviving and has been a critic of the government hence putting it on toes since 2013.