Junet Explains Absence From Raila Odinga’s First Anniversary Memorial

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 16 – National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed has explained his absence from the first anniversary memorial of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, saying he declined to attend after noticing that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was among those invited.

Speaking about the memorial held yesterday in Bondo, Junet said he could not share a platform with Gachagua, whom he accused of promoting hatred and ethnic divisions.

“I did not attend because when I looked at the list of invited guests, I saw someone called Gachagua. I said I could not sit in the same gathering with someone like that. Baba’s spirit, too, could not be present in a place associated with hatred, tribalism and other such things,” the Suna East MP stated.

Gachagua, meanwhile, explained his absence, saying he was in the United States attending a previously scheduled programme.

Junet also singled out former President Uhuru Kenyatta, whom he accused of abandoning Raila during the 2022 General Election and failing to stand with him during the first anniversary commemoration.

“But what also surprised me was that they invited some very prominent guests, including a ‘sponsor’ who abandoned us yesterday, just as he abandoned Baba during the 2022 elections. Yesterday, during the mourning, he also turned away. This is someone who keeps turning away. He abandoned Baba during the election, and now, even as we mark one year since his death, he has turned his back on him again by failing to attend the memorial,” he told a political rally in Sigor