‘Million-person’ welcome for Raila

Cord principals Hon Kalonzo Musyoka (second left, in black suit) and Sen Moses Wetangula (left) flanked by legislators and supporters arrive at Uhuru Park grounds for an inspection tour of the venue in readiness for Saturday's public rally on Friday May 30, 2014.  

In Summary

• Another similarly huge crowd turned up at Uhuru Park on December 30, 2002, during President Mwai Kibaki’s inauguration.
• Mr Odinga, in a statement, urged his supporters to exercise restraint and maintain peace during his homecoming rally this afternoon.
• Mr Wetangula said Cord would use the rally to set the stage for a nationwide campaign against the Jubilee Government which, he claimed, had mismanaged the economy.

By Peter Leftie
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By AGGREY MUTAMBO
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Cord leader Raila Odinga returns home Saturday after nearly three months in the United States, to what his supporters have billed as a “one-million-person” welcome.

 

Mr Odinga’s supporters have organised a rally at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park after a reception at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Supporters from outside Nairobi were being mobilised to travel to the city for the rally.

Ahead of the gathering, Mr Odinga asked his supporters to accord him a peaceful reception on his return, even as the coalition’s bigwigs vowed to mobilise one million people to welcome him.

Mr Odinga, in a statement, urged his supporters to exercise restraint and maintain peace during his homecoming rally this afternoon.

He, particularly asked them not to go to the airport to receive him so as not to inconvenience other travellers.

Nobody has ever marshalled a crowd of one million for any rally in Nairobi. Pope John Paul, now Saint John Paul, attracted 500,000 people during Mass in 1995, according to police estimates at the time.

READ: Thousands travel to city for Raila rally

Another similarly huge crowd turned up at Uhuru Park on December 30, 2002, during President Mwai Kibaki’s inauguration.

“ODM/Cord leader Raila Odinga is appealing to supporters preparing to welcome him on Saturday to exercise restraint and remain peaceful and civil before, during and after the rally at Uhuru Park,” read the statement circulated to the media by his spokesman Mr Dennis Onyango.

“Mr Odinga also reminded supporters that due to the current security and logistical challenges, they must keep off the airport. This would also ensure supporters do not add to the inconveniences travellers are currently experiencing at the airport,” the statement added.

The Cord leader, who has been on a lecture tour of the US,  asked the police to be civil and professional in handling the event.

He also called on his supporters to work with the security agencies to maintain law and order. Most Cord leaders are predicting a frenzied reception for Mr Odinga, only comparable to the heroic welcome of then Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford) leader Kenneth Matiba at JKIA, on May 2, 1992.

Mr Matiba was returning to the country after spending months in London receiving treatment for a stroke he had suffered while in detention.   

“We will fill Uhuru Park to the brim. Our supporters are pouring in from all corners of the country. They have hired hundreds of buses to bring them to Uhuru Park. They are doing so on their own volition because they believe in the ideals Cord stands for,” Cord co-principal Moses Wetangula said.

The Bungoma senator said Mr Odinga’s motorcade would use Mombasa Road and not Jogoo Road to access Uhuru Park from the JKIA. 

“We will use Mombasa Road. We don’t want to use Jogoo Road because of time constraints. If we use Jogoo Road, we will be obliged to address thousands of our supporters on the way and that may see us reaching Uhuru Park at say 5pm, which will be very late. We plan to finish our rally by 5pm to allow our supporters to reach their homes early and ensure that criminals do not take advantage of the darkness to cause chaos.”

Initial plans to airlift the former PM from the airport to Uhuru Park had been dropped, Mr Onyango confirmed.

Speaking after inspecting Uhuru Park ahead of today’s rally, the Cord leaders said they would mobilise supporters to welcome Mr Odinga.

(READ: Scare at Uhuru Park over unattended bag - PICTURES)

“The symbolism of us coming here is to tell Kenyans that we are here and we shall be here. Tomorrow, we encourage our brothers and sisters to make sure every man and woman is here to make a million-man crowd,” Mr Wetangula said.

Flanked by other Cord leaders, including Senators James Orengo, Hassan Omar, Johnstone Muthama, and Boni Khalwale, and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka echoed Mr Odinga’s appeal to Cord supporters not to go to the airport to receive him.

“Please do not go to the airport. We shall go there to welcome him and we will come here to deliver the message,” he pleaded, noting that today’s rally was about “telling Kenyans where we are and where we are headed.

“We have serious points of departure with our opponents in government and we shall elaborate on them tomorrow. We shall be peaceful, we shall be uncompromising and we shall be straight.”

There was a scare at the venue after a briefcase was found abandoned at the pavilion. A man suddenly appeared to claim it, saying he had gone to answer a call of nature, but he was whisked away by the police for questioning.

Mr Wetangula said Cord would use the rally to set the stage for a nationwide campaign against the Jubilee Government which, he claimed, had mismanaged the economy.

“Tomorrow’s rally will be the beginning of the long walk to freedom. We have planned rallies all over the country starting in Mombasa on June 15, followed by Nakuru, Kisumu, Kitale, Bungoma, Embu, Meru, Garissa and across the 47 counties. We want to sensitise Kenyans on the misrule of the Jubilee Government,” he said.

The senator refrained from discussing the cost of the former PM’s homecoming rally only terming it ‘modest.’

“People are contributing whatever modest amounts they can, Sh100,000 here, Sh50,000 there. We in opposition do not have millions; what we have is goodwill,” he said.