Uhuru in Kisumu is really working miracles as he crossed paths with one of his biggest rival and ODM financier Tycoon Jimmy Wanjigi. While there another handshake took place.
This happened as President Kenyatta arrived for breakfast, where he was met by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, his elder brother Oburu Odinga, Siaya Senator Jimmy Orengo, Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga and at the very end, Jimi Wanjigi.
There were smiles all over but Wanjigi’s smile stands out as he patiently waits for his turn to shake the President’s hand and the handshake does not disappoint.
The President, shook Wanjigi’s hand and they all move in to go and have breakfast together.
Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga had their handshake which many praise for pulling Kenya from the brink of an all out political conflict; but the Kenyatta-Wanjigi handshake is just as interesting after Wanjigi’s face-off with Uhuru’s administration.
Over the last year and a half, the businessman has been accusing President Uhuru Kenyatta of prosecuting him for backing Raila Odinga in the 2017 General Election.
Wanjigi, a man who was once spoken about in hushed tones dominated news headlines for months and he showed that he wouldn’t take whatever the government brought to him lying down.
The nightmare for Wanjigi, and the soap opera for Kenyans, began after a a multi-agency team drawn from the elite Flying Squad, Special Crimes Prevention Unit and General Service Unit (GSU) stormed his palatial Muthaiga home and laid siege for two days and nights.
The siege saw police recover seven guns and 600 rounds of ammunition, five pistols licensed to Mr Wanjigi, one shotgun and a military grade M4 assault rifle.
After the police left, Wanjigi resurfaced and addressed a press conference where he maintained his innocence claiming the accusations leveled against him had been “fabricated” to persecute him over his political stand.
He was charged with 11 counts of importing and being in possession of illegal firearms in a Nyeri court. The drama netted even his aging father also over illegal firearms possession but the case was later thrown out.
Just like a good Hollywood drama, there was a major twist in the Wanjigi drama when he bizarrely appeared in the obituary section of the leading newspaper in the country.
The high stakes drama saw Government spokesperson Eric Kiraithe label Mr. Wanjigi a “nefarious criminal”.
“The police are doing a very simple task, which is not politically motivated. The raid on Wanjigi’s home means we have a nefarious criminal in our midst, who has been uncovered, period,” said Kiraithe.
Looks like all that is probably behind Mr. Wanjigi and the President and they are back to being good friends. Or maybe there was never a problem to begin with.