Uhuru, Raila to be feted in London for Handshake deal

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nasa leader Raila Odinga have been internationally recognised for their March 9 Peace Accord Handshake, which ended political acrimony and intolerance after Kenya’s election in 2017 which had threatened to divide the country and increase of violence.

Uhuru and Raila, a former Prime Minister, were to be honoured with Black History Month, African Peace Award 2018 during the London Political Summit at the British Parliament on Thursday, October 18, for their political sportsmanship and adherence to the principle of political tolerance.

“These two great men themselves have a long rich history behind them, as both their parents were the founding fathers of Kenyan political and democratic history. It is a great privilege to identify with their latest leadership style which infers immense political maturity,” a statement announcing the award last month had said.

The summit will be looking at the narrow and broad concepts of political-will to act, and the public-will’s power to react, in the very context of an individual leader, or collective leadership actions in critical political decision-making in governance.

Away from being awarded, London Political Summit has created a special award known as “Raila-Uhuru African Peace Accord Award” which will be given annually to any African leader who embraces peace, values democracy and exhibits high level of political maturity and tolerance.

The awardees will go through strict criteria and vetting. Some of the criteria used will be political tolerance, people-oriented leadership, political accountability and political morality among other vital issues in governance.

Others nominated for London Political Summit were Dr Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga MP,
Speaker of Uganda parliament,  Diane Abbott MP UK Parliament, Prof John Raftery Vice Chancellor, London Metropolitan University, Dr Josephine Ojiambo, Former Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth and Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, who also served two terms, from 2008 to 2014, as Deputy Secretary-General for the Commonwealth.

Quoting Henry Ford, the organisers noted that “the only motive that can keep politics pure is the motive of doing good for one’s country and its people”.

“The paradigm shift in political thoughts and actions around the world in most recent years, has to resonate with the idea that nations should govern themselves, free from external interferences, that defies super-globalization and its current burning issues such as; climate change, disarmament, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, terrorism, national security, and sovereignty, which requires the attention of both domestic and national politics,” Godson Azu, Director of London Political Summit, had said when the award was first announced.

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history.