President Uhuru, Raila 'Lightly' Exchange Words at the Funeral of Shebesh's Father

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival National Super Alliance flag-bearer Raila Odinga on Friday 'lightly' exchanged words at the burial of former Nairobi Mayor Samuel Mbugua, the father to former Nairobi Women Representative Rachael Shebesh.

Speaking at the ceremony in Kiambu, former Prime Minister Raila told President Uhuru Kenyatta to respect the Supreme Court and practice tolerance during this challenging political period. The opposition chief insisted that Kenya is bigger than one individual and political differences should not lead to its destruction. “This country can be bigger if we embrace tolerance. People campaigned, they fought, there were winners and losers and life continues.”

He assured Kenyans that no matter the outcome of the October 26th repeat presidential election, he would respect the will of the people and asked President Kenyatta to do the same. “We have moved on for the last four and a half years. I am sure we are going to resolve these issues. If it is my brother Uhuru, I will respect the will of the people,” he said.

The ODM leader refuted claims of any bad blood between him in the Head of State and asked Uhuru to "heshimu mzee". “Uhuru is my younger brother. Na mimi nimesema heshimu mzee. Hakuna shida. Tuko pamoja…tunakaa na yeye tunaongea vizuri. Sisi tunataka Kenya iendelee mbele na mimi nina hakika itaendelea mbele, ” he added.

This was the first time the two met face to face since the nullified August 8th election.

When President Uhuru was invited to speak, he answered Raila's "heshimu mzee" by telling him to in turn respect the will of Kenyans in the elections. “Raila has said I should respect him as an old man…I also call upon him to respect the will of the people,” the President said.