Joho, Junet jet out to Dubai to visit a recuperating Raila
Peter Leftie
Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed left the country yesterday for Dubai to visit Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga who is recuperating after undergoing surgery.
In separate tweets aboard what appeared like a private jet, the two ODM officials disclosed that they were headed to the United Arab Emirates’ city to check on Raila who has been in Dubai since Sunday June 21.
“Off to Dubai with @Hassan Ali Joho to see Baba. SC @ahmednasirlaw don’t feel bad. He is BABA!,” tweeted Junet in a light hearted salvo directed at prominent lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, a fierce critic of the ODM leader.
Ahmednasir promptly hit back, asking Junet to pass his greetings to Raila. “Pass my best regards to Baba @RailaOdinga,” he wrote.
Minutes later, Joho also tweeted thus; “Off to Dubai with @JunetMohamed to see Baba.”
Efforts to reach both Joho and Junet to expound on their trip did not yield fruit with the former’s phone out of reach and the latter failing to pick his or answer our messages.
Raila’s spokesman Dennis Onyango also failed to pick his phone or return our calls.
Raila quietly left the country on Sunday June 21 for Dubai, fuelling widespread speculation regarding his whereabouts following his absence from the public limelight.
His elder brother, Oburu Oginga later revealed that Raila had flown to Dubai to undergo a minor surgery at a German hospital in the Emirate.
“Jakom (Raila) is out of the country for a minor surgical operation on his back. It is not a serious health issue, but just a minor one. So, he’s okay,” Oburu was quoted.
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP did not reveal the name of the hospital only stating thus; “The Germans have a good hospital facility in the Arabian country where he’s being monitored.”
He did not also disclose who was accompanying Raila on the trip or whether he had left the country in an air ambulance.
Last week, a video clip posted on Twitter by his daughter Winnie Odinga, Raila emerged to say he felt “very strong and rejuvenated.”
“I want to thank all my friends, my supporters and all our youths who have sent me so many messages of goodwill.
It has just been amazing and so wonderful and makes me recover so fast, that’s I’m up and about now,” he said.
The Opposition leader’s son Raila Junior also took to social media to confirm that his father was out of hospital but was still recuperating abroad.
“To those who have constantly been inquiring and sending messages of goodwill for Jakom, he is recovering well outside the country,” he posted on his Twitter account yesterday.
Raila’s lengthy absence from the country has coincided with some simmering tension between his allies and president Uhuru Kenyatta’s wing of the Jubilee Party.
The tensions exploded in public domain this week when Minority leader John Mbadi accused the Jubilee wing of lacking interest in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
Mbadi, one of Raila’s trusted foot soldiers expressed discomfort with the Jubilee membership in two committees, that of Justice and Legal Affairs and the Delegated Legislation, which are key in the passage of the BBI report.
