Why Is Raila Odinga Being Denied Access To VIP Lounges At Kenyan Airports?

The saga surrounding former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the drama that it has created at some of the Kenyan airports seems to have started with a letter dated May 9th 2013. The letter, which The Standard On Sunday claims to have seen, is allegedly written by Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia to the former Permanent Secretary for Transport, Eng Karanja Kibicho. The letter has been copied to several other recipients but most notably, the Deputy President of Kenya, William Ruto.

It looks like the speculations by aids of Raila Odinga, that William Ruto is having a hand in the humiliations that the former Prime Minister has been subjected to, are based on this fact. What normally happens is that the person indicated as the first recipient of a letter is the one who originated with the issue being handled and the author of the letter only writes it to confirm the executions of any orders that the originator may have issued. However, no one can really confirm at this time whether indeed Deputy President William Ruto issued any orders to bar Raila Odinga from accessing VIP lounges.

It looks like no one wants to take responsibility of the happenings with the KAA claiming that the former Prime Minister has not been denied access to VIP lounges in any of the Country’s airports. However, arriving from South Africa last week, Raila Odinga could still not access the VIP lounge at JKIA. “I cannot access the VIP Lounge if it is locked.” Speculations have been high that the former PM is being subjected to such humiliation by some government big-fish in a bid to pressure him into working with them. For now, Kenyans can only speculate about who really is behind the humiliating treatment that Raila and his family have been facing in the hands of the people he served for 5 years as the prime Minister.