I am one of those who woke up early in the morning on August 8, 2017 and endured the hot afternoon sun to cast my vote, and when my turn came, I ticked next to Raila Odinga’s mugshot.

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That was my first time to vote and though he never managed to clinch his long-time desired presidential seat, with the result favoring President Uhuru Kenyatta, I would still vote him in future elections.

Not because we come from the same region or we both have an ‘O’ at the beginning of our second names, but because, in my opinion, he is the leader the nation needs.

Odinga has always been several steps ahead of the entire nation and has always been in the forefront in revealing scandals and other bad deeds and despite denials from the state, they have always came to pass.

He spoke of the Eurobond and First National Youth Service (NYS) saga’s which were later confirmed, raising the question; if he can do all that from the opposition side and without intelligence agencies, won't he do even more as the President?

Under him as the Premier and retired President Mwai Kibaki, many successful projects were undertaken, and though the ruling Jubilee government claims to have surpassed all the other governments in development projects, they have as well been surrounded by equally big corruption scandals. 

The government seems defeated by the graft menace, with the situation likely to remain intact should Deputy President William Ruto take over, as he has failed to do anything despite co-leading the nation for now the sixth year, maybe Odinga should be brought in to tame the dragon.

I also view him as a father, a man who surrendered his victory in 2007 to salvage the nation from bloodshed and who has severally stomached insults and mockery from junior and less experienced politicians allied to the rival side.

On March 9, he gave up his anti-Jubilee campaign to salvage the nation from increasing ethnic hostility and economic hardships and shook the hand of the man whom he has twice accused of stealing his victory, a demonstration of a dedicated leader.

In my opinion, this is the man Kenya needs as its President and whom I will vote again should he vie in 2022.