One of the attendees at President William Ruto’s inaugural national festivities at the Uhuru Gardens was Kalonzo Musyoka, the principal of Azimio-One Kenya.
Along with other senior government figures, Kalonzo was seated on the main dais.
To the complete astonishment of many, including former prime minister Raila Odinga, who avoided the event, Ruto greeted and chitchatted with the Wiper Party Leader on the dais after inspecting a guard of honor.
Initially unaware of Kalonzo’s presence, Ruto was only made aware of it by Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro, who informed him that Kalonzo was occupying a seat at the front end of the row.
Ruto greeted the UDA party leadership, including Chairman Johnstone Muthama and Secretary-General Veronica Maina, before sitting down with the Wiper leader.
The Azimio principal, who was joined by Embakasi South MP Musili Mawathe, was sitting next to outgoing Attorney General Kihara Kariuki.
Given his prior position that Azimio will only interact with the government to keep it in control, his attendance was unexpected.
It also sparked questions about whether coalition party leader Raila Odinga, who is away from home on a 10-day vacation to India, knew he was there.
Kalonzo was the target of Ruto’s charm drive in the days before the August 9 general election, which included an offer of a position in the administration.
However, in the Opposition Leader’s fifth attempt at the presidency, the Azimio principle decided to support Raila for the third time.
