Residents of Kisumu have deeply fallen in love with Hon Raila Odinga promise of making sure that SGR lands in “Dala.”
Although Hon Raila Odinga has been exposed to a series of attacks online, residents of Kisumu have provided a shield for Baba.
Mr Odinga was for a long time one of the harshest critics of the financing model of President Kenyatta’s pet project, saying in various forums that the President’s borrowing spree was akin to mortgaging Kenya to China.
Accusing President Kenyatta’s government of corruption, Mr Odinga said the cost of the Mombasa-Nairobi line was exaggerated and could have cost less.
And when the President launched construction of the line from Nairobi to Naivasha, the opposition leader claimed it was all for the benefit of members of the first family.
In June 2014, Mr Odinga wrote to the President lamenting that the SGR project, “which is a key and vital development in the expansion and modernization of Kenya’s infrastructure, has raised serious credibility concerns”.
He said the project should have cost Sh227 billion but was inflated to Sh327 billion by the Jubilee administration. “We know the people responsible,” he warned, “and it is not the Chinese”.
But now, as he basks in the glory of his March 2018 deal with Mr Kenyatta, Mr Odinga has become one of the staunchest supporters of the project, and was last evening cruising to China to lend support to his new political ally.
Speaking in Kisumu at the weekend, Mr Odinga said the project would be a big boost to the economy of Kisumu by creating jobs.
“We are going to establish a special economic zone in Kisumu and make the city the hub of East Africa,” he told a crowd.
Mr Odinga was not available for comment, but his spokesman Dennis Onyango said the ODM leader’s stand on the first phase of the SGR had not changed, and that there was no value for money.
“However,” added Mr Onyango, “now that we are already committed to it as it is already here, we need to beef it up to make value for money by extending it to Kisumu and Busia.”