Kalonzo: I didn’t get out of my house during Raila’s Uhuru Park mock swearing-in
By Kenneth Mwenda, September 9, 2025Kalonzo Musyoka has said that he was at home when opposition leader Raila Odinga took a symbolic oath as the “people’s president” at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park in January 2018.
Speaking during an interview with a local podcast on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, the former vice president explained that the ceremony had already been undermined before it even took place. He revealed that lawyer Miguna Miguna had conducted an earlier oath for Raila days before the public gathering.
“Kwanza Miguna Miguna had already sworn Raila in one week before the event. Sijui kwa nyumba ya Miguna, sijui wapi. Ni vituko vya ajabu hivi,” Kalonzo said. “Sasa wakati tunaenda Uhuru Park, already we knew hatutaruhusiwa.”
According to him, the coalition leaders had only planned that Raila would show proof of that earlier oath at Uhuru Park. “So tulipanga Raila akuwe sworn in. Raila akifika huko Uhuru Park aonyeshe vile alikuwa sworn in na Miguna Miguna,” he added.
Kalonzo rejected claims that the opposition presented a united front at the time.
“We did not have a commonality of approach. We were afraid kwamba hao majamaa watatudhuru vibaya sana. Tukawa hivi hivi hatujuani vizuri hatuelewani. Hatukuzima simu. Mimi sikutoka kwa nyumba yangu.”
He went on to claim that his family faced a security scare just hours after the Uhuru Park event.
“Na siku hiyo ukumbuke nilitupiwa grenade. Mpaka wa sasa sijui ni nani alijaribu. Ilikuwa mshtuko mbaya sana,” he said.
Kalonzo described the grenade attack as deeply traumatic.
“In my compound, a grenade ilitupwa. Baba yangu alikuwa mgonjwa; fortunately, I had taken him to Nairobi Hospital. Mahali hapo bomu ilianguka ilikuwa karibu. Mke wangu ambaye amekuwa mgonjwa alipata mshtuko mkubwa sana. Nurses were screaming all over the place. Mimi niliskia huo mlipuko nikashanga. It was around 2 o’clock in the morning. Nobody has bothered to bring me that report.”
Symbolic oath sparks divisions
The Uhuru Park swearing-in came three months after Raila boycotted a repeat presidential election in October 2017. The Supreme Court had annulled the August election, citing irregularities and illegalities by the electoral commission. President Uhuru Kenyatta went on to win the re-run, which Odinga rejected.
Raila’s symbolic oath drew thousands of supporters, but it also increased tension with the state. Attorney General Githu Muigai had already warned that such an act would amount to treason. On the day itself, the government ordered a shutdown of major TV stations to block live coverage.
Despite pledges of unity, NASA co-principals Kalonzo, Musalia Mudavadi, and Moses Wetang’ula skipped the event. Their absence fuelled speculation of divisions within the opposition alliance. Raila later assured his supporters that his deputies would be sworn in on another date.
Looking back, Kalonzo still views the oath as a failure.
“So swearing in hiyo people’s president was a fiasco. Unakumbuka wengine wakisema sijui kuna nambari kutoka Nigeria, sijui ingine wapi. Nadhani hayo ndio mambo mengine yanastaajabisha sana,” he said.