A student who pleaded with Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga to attend his birthday party has finally broken his silence on how he got the former premiers attenion.
According to Gideon Gachuki, a third-year student at the Kenya Institute of Management, he called the ODM leader Raila Odinga and convinced him to attend his birthday.
Recounting how difficult it was to reach Raila’s, Gachuki stated that he had earlier tried to contact the former Prime Minister via email but he did not get any response.
He then got Raila’s phone number from his close friend and texted him directly.
The third year student said Raila, who had accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta to attend the swearing-in of Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema, responded by calling him and confirmed his attendance at the birthday.
“I had initially tried to reach out to Raila via email and he was not responding. I then got his number from a close friend and he texted me, surprisingly he called and I invited him to my birthday and he confirmed that he would attend,” Gachuki said in an interview.
When the day came, Raila drove in a small convoy to the homestead belonging to Gachuki and his family and was welcomed by residents and area Governor James Nyoro.
“It came as a surprise to me because I was not sure that Raila would do that during my birthday, I was surprised and that moment became a dream come true,” he stated.
The last born in the family of four also confirmed receiving a cow from ODM Leader and he plans to sell the milk to support himself and his family.
“He empowered me, three months from now, I will start selling milk and I will use the proceeds to support myself and my family,” he remarked.
Gachuki, who also adds up as the coordinator of the Central Kenya Students Association, stated that he was inspired to invite Raila as he is his role model.
“Baba has been my favourite and I believe in his leadership. Baba is my role model politically and economically. I thank Baba for making it happen.”
The third-year student claimed that the surprise moment by the former premier inspired him and popularised his name re-igniting his political ambitions.
“That birthday appearance has placed me somewhere in the political arena not only in our village, ward, constituency, or county but country-wide.”
Gachuki’s mother, who is a widow, pleaded with Raila to support them by getting them a few cows a plea he honoured.
“I request honourable Raila to get his hand on him so that he may continue to be doing great things because as his mother, have seen that he has a lot of vision.
“So my plea is that if you have something small, I request that you support us, if we have a few cows, we’ll be able to deliver the milk and earn a living,” she stated.
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