As Kenya struggles to bridge the divide through the BBI report launched in November, the Star has gone back in time to see how Kenyans arrived here.
Kenya held their general election in August 2017 in which Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the president but the opposition led by Raila Odinga took the matter to court.
The Supreme court later declared Uhuru's win as null and void citing irregularities and illegalities. The new election date was then slated for October 26, 2017.
But Raila said the grounds for holding another election was not yet levelled. He asked his supporters not to protest but to boycott the second election terming Uhuru as an illegitimate president.
After Uhuru was declared the winner again, Raila rallied his supporters to Uhuru Park and was declared the 'People's' President.
Since then, they have been a standoff between the ruling coalition and the Opposition. With the latter calling for secession.
After five months of tension in the country, Raila and Uhuru met which was a historical moment for the nation.
THE HANDSHAKE
On March 9, 2018, Uhuru and Raila in a rare show of unity told Kenyans they had set their differences aside and would work to unite the public.
For the first time, Uhuru and Raila lifted the lid on the awkward and tense session that led to the public handshake outside Harambee House on March 9 last year.
Uhuru said they drank tea for 45 minutes without uttering a word to each other at his office in Harambee House.
Kenya faced tumultuous times since the disputed August 8, 2017, presidential election, whose outcome Raila objected and termed Uhuru 'an illegitimate President'.
After the handshake by the two leaders, they came up with a nine-point plan to heal the nation which covers just about everything that is wrong with Kenya.
This includes ethnic antagonism and competition, lack of a national ethos, inclusivity, devolution, divisive elections, safety and security, corruption, shared prosperity as well as respect for human and civil rights.
UHURU QUOTES AFTER HANDSHAKE.
“We have had an opportunity for an extensive discussion on matters Kenya and We have come to a common understanding, an understanding that this country of Kenya is greater than any one individual.”
“Elections come and go but Kenya remains; so as we plan ourselves for the future, our future cannot be dictated by the forthcoming elections.”
“Today, we will begin a process of bringing our people together. That, we will begin a process of discussing what ails us and what creates divisions amongst us.”
“We look forward to the support every single Kenyan so that we can build together a united, harmonious, stable nation where no individual feels left out or left behind.”
“This marks a new beginning for our country, a beginning in which we hope that we shall march together as Kenyans and that we can differ in terms of political alignments but always remain steadfast and united in matters Kenya.”
RAILA QUOTES AFTER HANDSHAKE
“In the life of any nation, a time comes when the people and their leaders must audit the progress made towards the attainment of the goals and prayers laid out at the founding of the nation.”
“When such times come, the leaders entrusted to secure the goals; in our case; justice, unity, peace, liberty and prosperity for all; have a duty to reflect on their performance in the search for these hallowed goals.”
“The time has come for us to confront and resolve our differences. These differences are becoming too entrenched.”
“My brother and I have therefore come together today to say this descent stops here. We refuse to allow our diversity to kill our nation. We refuse to be the leaders under whose watch Kenya slid into a failed nation.”
“This is a call to self-reflection. We have to look into ourselves and challenge our readiness to make the changes that will allow our institutional reforms to work.”
“The reform process will become an exercise in diverting attention from our own failings and taking refuge in a blame game. We, therefore, seek your partnership in this initiative fellow Kenyans. We are all sailing in this one ship. We must come together to scoop out the water that has been sipping in or we shall capsize.”
“We have travelled too far to turn back. We would never make it back to the shore. Yet, we can't make it to our destination either. Our only option is to come together and scoop out these waters of animosity that we have been pouring into the boat before we all sink.”
POLITICAL GAMES
After the handshake what started as routine political games involving women in different political persuasions slowly degenerated into personalised attacks.
With most of these attacks taking place over the weekends, women MPs and leaders have had the platform to go against each other in the name of Building Bridges Initiative.
The Women MPs were strongly divided in the battle for the attention of Deputy President William Ruto and Raila.
The divide was so deep that it triggered the formation of two amorphous groupings akin to the Kileweke and Tangatanga brigades.
A section of the country's women leadership coalesced around Inua Mama and supported Ruto while the other threw their weight behind the Handshake under the Team Embrace umbrella.
There was also speculation that the Kieleweke women wing was receiving massive support from government agents opposed to Ruto's ambitions.
Last month, Laikipia Woman Rep Cate Waruguru was caught on tape hurling unprintable words at Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, a proponent of BBI report.
Waruguru talked of the recent marital union between Waiguru and lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo in a tirade of offensives.
"We have a woman who has not given birth after her recent marriage, but she’s busy telling us to await the birth of the BBI report,” Waruguru said.
TANGA TANGA TEAMS
The tension among supporters of Ruto was evident from day one after the country's second in command was not included in the BBI talks.
For the past year, Jubilee has been split into two antagonising camps; the Tanga Tanga team which has been perceived to be against the Handshake and the Kieleweke group, which is pro-handshake.
The TangaTanga team associated with Ruto has been opposing the BBI, setting stringent conditions for them to support the initiative.
Ruto, however, has played it safe over the divisive matter saying the BBI fate lies with Kenyans and warned those yearning for bigger positions to be created for them from the BBI to be ready for a surprise.
THE REPORT
Kenya will see the return of the position of Prime Minister if the Building Bridges Initiative Taskforce proposals are to be implemented in full.
The BBI team appeared to make proposals that would lead Kenyans to a referendum with all proposal made likely to come through Bills or policy changes.
The report proposes that Kenyans continue to elect their President who remains the Head of State and Government.
The report also says that the Deputy President should remain the principal assistant to the President and will be the running mate.