NAIROBI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A political truce between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his main rival in last year's elections, opposition leader Raila Odinga, has given Kenyans optimism.
The two leaders held talks on Friday and agreed to work together in a move that shocked their foes and allies, a majority who did not expect the antagonists would unite following bruising polls.
"Kenyans should overcome negative ethnicity by acting in the understanding that elections on their own are not solution to our challenges," said both Odinga and Kenyatta in a joint statement, before shaking hands in a show of unity.
The move has elicited mixed reactions across the East African nation, but of more significance is that the new found political unity has renewed optimism among ordinary citizens.
Last year, Kenya held two presidential elections, one on Aug. 8, whose result was annulled by the Supreme Court after it found Kenyatta was not validly elected.
A second one was ordered on Oct. 26, which the opposition boycotted, accusing the government of planning to rig it. Kenyatta was elected with 99 percent of the votes and later sworn-in but Odinga declined to recognize him as the president.
The lengthy electioneering period saw Kenyans divided along ethnic and political lines, with some leaders and individuals not seeing eye-to-eye.
Several people, majority of them opposition supporters, were killed during confrontations with the police in demonstrations and political rallies.
"I am happy with the move by the president and Odinga. It is a step in the right direction because as citizens, we were suffering a lot," Joash Mwangi, a Kenyatta supporter, said Monday.
Mwangi, a businessman selling clothes in Nairobi, noted that he had lost several customers due to the political crisis.
"My customers, especially those who supported Odinga, had refused to buy my merchandise, accusing me of supporting their oppressors. I called one the other day and he told me that he had moved on, that he would not build a business of someone who was not from his region," he said.
But with the political talks between the two leaders who Kenyans overwhelmingly voted for on Aug. 8, Mwangi, as many other small businesspersons, is hopeful of better times ahead.
"I am optimistic that the business environment would be better going forward. My business has never been battered like this before," said Gilbert Wandera, who runs a computer shop in the Nairobi central business district.
Since August 2017, Wandera said he had brought stock of 50 desktop and laptop computers to his shop once. "I am still yet to clear the batch because of the political stalemate, which affected business but now there is hope. My prayer has been that Odinga does not renew anti-government sentiments and they have been answered," he said.
Moses Onyango, a motorbike taxi operator on the east of Nairobi who supported Odinga, noted that divisions in the country had seen riders divide themselves along ethnic lines.
"In our case, Luo, Kamba and Luhya riders waited for customers at one place because we felt we were one since we supported the opposition. On the other hand, Kikuyus who supported the president also had their place and our customers were also aware of the division," he said, noting he is hopeful that would end.
Leaders at the weekend rallied behind the unity talks between Odinga and Kenyatta, asking Kenyans to embrace them for the sake of the country.
"I am seeing our economy take off. We should now forget what happened and soldier on as one people. I am one of those who were persecuted because of Odinga's oathing but I am now putting all that behind," George Aladwa, a lawmaker said.
The Deputy President William Ruto, similarly, called on opposition leaders criticizing Odinga to support the move for the sake of posterity.
"Elections come and go. We cannot continue fighting and hope that we would have a country. It is time we join hands and build a country our children would love living in," he said.
On social media, the unity talks have been a hot debate, with a majority of Kenyans supporting them, but others, especially opposition supporters felt Odinga had betrayed them.
"I not pleased with whatever Odinga did. It was not the only alternative. Odinga was better off in opposition. All governments in the world have oppositions," said Salome on Twitter.
Others questioned the secrecy in which the talks were held, noting just as Odinga called them for his controversial swearing in at Uhuru Park, he should have informed them of his next move.
But analysts asked Kenyans to give Odinga and Kenyatta a chance to unite the country and not vilify them.
"We should not vilify the leaders and others who claim were not informed. We are all central to the reconciliation and peace of the country," said James ole Kiyiapi, a former permanent secretary and a professor of environment.
Kiyiapi noted that politics at its finest is first about national interests, everything else is secondary.
"What happened between Odinga and Kenyatta is not about winners and losers, it is about winning as a country," he noted.
However, he added that their coming together should not gloss issues affecting the country including negative ethnicity, lack of inclusivity and corruption, but offer a chance to solve them.
Henry Wandera, an economics lecturer in Nairobi, observed that the business community is one of the top beneficiaries of the talks, as the economy is set to rebound as political environment stabilizes.
