The President, whose diary of appearances at rallies is ordinarily
light, visited Thika and Yatta to assess the distribution of relief
food.
Mr Odinga visited Kibera in his Lang'ata constituency and later addressed a rally at Isinya in Kajiado North constituency.
You will see more of this in the coming days, said an Office of the
President official, who declined to be named discussing the itinerary
of the two leaders.
Failed the nation
The two have come under severe criticism, most notably by religious
leaders on Thursday, who told them that they had failed the nation and
should accept responsibility for corruption, insecurity and food
shortages.
While President Kibaki spoke about unity and asked leaders to stop
insulting each other, the Prime Minister struck a more political note,
confidently predicting that the Orange party will win power at the next
election.
The difference in tone reflected the separate circumstances of the two
leaders: while the President is retiring at the end of his term, Mr
Odinga faces a tough presidential election in 2012.
Speaking at Isinya, the PM promised party supporters that sufficient
measures will be in place to ensure that the 2012 election is not
rigged.
He claimed to have won the disputed 2007 election overwhelmingly but
was rigged out by the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya.
Now that we have sent the ECK home, I am sure we will get there (presidency), he said.
The Nation, in interviews with Mr Odinga's ODM allies, understands that
there is some discontent because Mr Odinga is seen as equally sharing
the blame for government failures yet the President took most of the
executive powers.
Some of those allies feel that the PM, to avoid carrying the baggage of
government failure into the election, should begin to put some distance
between himself and the government and this might explain his return to
popular ODM themes such as the rigging of the 2007 election and majimbo.
On Thursday, Mr Odinga met a delegation of 70 leaders from his Nyanza
stronghold who expressed their dissatisfaction with the provision of
jobs and aid for the families of those killed or injured in the
post-election violence.
Mr Odinga's return to popular party themes on Sunday is likely to be
seen as intended to shore up the morale of the party's supporters.
The presence of Agriculture minister William Ruto, seen by some as an
emerging rival to the PM in ODM, also sent a message of party unity, a
theme that most speakers dwelt on at length.
Though Mr Odinga maintains he won the election, the true outcome
remains clouded in confusion, with ECK declaring President Kibaki the
winner by 250,000 votes and ODM claiming its victory was stolen.
Dispute
The ensuing dispute erupted in violence in which hundreds were killed and 600,000 displaced from their homes.
The PM's personal secretary, Mr Karoli Omondi, told the Daily Nation
that Mr Odinga had appointed former Cabinet minister Adhu Awiti his
director of political affairs for better coordination and communication
with grassroots leaders. He will have an office at the Jaramogi Odinga
Foundation headquarters in Nairobi.
On Sunday, Prof George Saitoti, the local MP who is also the Party of
National Unity chairman and Security minister and who will likely be
vying for the presidency against Mr Odinga, asked ODM leaders to stop
campaigning and concentrate on development.
Amid boos by his constituents, Prof Saitoti said: You cannot campaign
for five years. The elections are long gone and we should forget the
past and build the nation.
Asking to be respected as the area MP, Prof Saitoti said President
Kibaki and Mr Odinga had agreed to work together and there was no need
to continue competing over politics. ODM speakers announced plans to
unite their leaders and supporters in readiness for the next elections.
Mr Odinga said Kenyans demonstrated, blocked roads and fought after the 2007 elections because of Mr Kivuitu's errors.
He said some of the promises made by ODM during the campaigns had not
been met because the government was working on the basis of two
manifestoes – PNU and ODM.
Our manifesto has been diluted; what the government is implementing is not what we promised Kenyans, said the PM.
He said the government would give Kenyans a new constitution to ensure
equity and create a majimbo (federal) system of government.
The debate was kicked off by Medical Services minister Anyang' Nyong'o
who said it was because of the party's unity that Mr Ruto survived a
vote of no confidence in Parliament and that ODM will only win the 2012
elections if it remained intact.
He was responding to calls by local leaders for party leaders to unite and heal their differences.
Roads Minister Franklin Bett said the party would not allow any
official of ECK to be appointed to the new electoral agency. Only a
person acceptable to all political parties will head the Interim
Independent Electoral Commission, the leaders said.
Mr Bett called for the prosecution of those who allegedly stole the
election before action is taken against the perpetrators of the poll
violence.
He announced that Rift Valley MPs will soon hire lorries and remove
Internally Displaced Persons still camping at Eldoret showground and
take them back to their farms.
Political wars
Mr Ruto said it was not the wish of ODM to partner with PNU in the
Grand Coalition saying it was God who forced us to work together.
Our wish was to form government and PNU to be in opposition, he said.
He called for an end to political infighting in the coalition.
There's a lot of fighting in the country every now and then. That is
not what Kenyans want. We should not waste a chance of serving Kenyans
through political wars, he said.
Livestock assistant minister Aden Duale called for the removal of
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua to ensure
Kenyans get a good constitution since she is eyeing the presidency.
Hostile mood
Mr J T Okinda, a Nairobi architect who was in the delegation to the
PM's office at the Treasury last Thursday told Mr Odinga: You keep
telling us we are in government but there is nothing to show for it on
the ground and the public mood is hostile because of how appointments
are being done, especially when they only go to people known to be your
relatives.
A memorandum from the delegation listed the issues the supporters want the prime minister to address.
On Sunday, it also emerged that Mr Odinga did not sign a letter of
appointment sent to him by President Kibaki but instead asked for it to
be amendment.
Contents of the President's letter, exclusively reported by the
Saturday Nation seemed to gag Mr Odinga and implied that it was the
President appointing him although the appointment was by virtue of Mr
Odinga being the leader of largest party in Parliament.