ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga has recapped his pledge to concede defeat if he loses his fifth stab at occupying State House in the 2022 General Election.
Raila, who sought the presidency in 1997, 2007, 2013 and 2017, will be running against his strongest opponent Deputy President William Ruto (UDA), who was once his close ally.
During the interview by Trevor Ombija on Citizen TV on Wednesday, the former PM said he is a democrat and would accept defeat if he loses in a fair race come the 2022 poll.
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“As a democrat, you must accept to win or lose. You see, losing is part of the game; if you lose fairly in a contest you have to accept,” said Raila.
He added, “I’m a sportsman, I used to play soccer. I played the league and I knew if you lose you could cede. ‘Asiyekubali kushindwa, sio mshindani’ so, nobody should have any worries about that.”
Raila also gave an indication that he would be a one-term president if he takes over from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who turned from foe to friend after 2017.
“Why not? Ask US President Joe Biden, he is one year older than me,” Raila said when asked by Ombija if he would be president for only one term.
He noted that Kenya is ripe for an engineer president to take off economically.
“Look at these different presidencies, our first president was an anthropologist, he gave us the Kenyanisation of the Kenyan economy. The second president was a teacher who laid a lot of emphasis on Education. Kenya under President Kibaki, an economist, got the vision 2030 and an economic upturn.
Now we have a fourth president who is a political economist, and he has moved the country to the point of take-off….if you look at the infrastructural development that he has done, it is big! It has moved the country to the point of take-off.”
Raila argued that Kenya now needs him, an engineer, to steer the country to the take-off.
Here's the interview aired by Citizen TV:
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