On January 30, 2018, thousands of Opposition expectant supporters thronged Uhuru Park, Nairobi to witness the historic swearing in of their leader Raila Odinga as people’s president. But for Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, it was a do or die day as this was not any ordinary moment and he was sure its aftermath would be brutal to say the least.
As the lawmaker who had just won elusive first parliamentary seat left his house, he bid his wife bye knowing his had very little chance of seeing her that evening. Despite police brutality and indiscriminate shooting that was waged on anti-government demonstrators prior to Raila’s installation, no arrests were made.
#RailaSwearingIn. On this Day Last Year, I Left My House, Bid My Wife Bye, Pretty Sure Chances Of Return were 50%, Being Maimed 80%, Being Arrested 100%. It Came To Pass That None Happened! Here We Are, Fully Embracing The Handshake! How Things Change🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/BMZ1fdHbll
— Hon. Otiende Amollo (@OAmollo) January 30, 2019
“On this day last year, I left my house, bid my wife bye, pretty sure chances of return were 50%, being maim*d 80%, being arrested 100%. It came to pass that none happened! Here we are, fully embracing the handshake! How things change,” he recalled.
The event which had been highly publicised by opposition leaders as an historic in Kenya’s politics, ended in an anti-climax after NASA co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula gave it a wide berth.