Raila Odinga attends King Charles III's State House banquet

By Peter Ochieng

President William Ruto and First Lady Rachael Ruto on Tuesday night organised a State banquet at State House, Nairobi, in honour of Britain's King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla.

Their Majesties' arrived in the country on Monday night, ahead of their four day state visit to Kenya.

Azimio leader Raila Odinga was among those who attended the state banquet.

Odinga was captured on camera in a chit-chat with Ugunja Member of Parliament (MP) James Opiyo Wandayi who doubles up as leader of minority in the National Assembly, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General Cleophas Malala, and Cabinet Secretary for tourism and wildlife Alfred Mutua.

Raymond Omollo, Principal Secretary (PS) for Interior later showed up, extended a handshake to all of them before joining in, in the brief conversation.

It is not clear who invited the ODM party boss to the banquet.

Over the past few months, Odinga has been silent after giving Ruto's administration 'a run for its money' early this year.

The Azimio leader organised anti-government demos in several parts of the country, to push for the lowering of the cost of living.

Dozens of people were killed or injured, after violent confrontations with security officers.

The veteran politician took his pedals off the gas, when Ruto agreed to the formation of a bipartisan committee to resolve some of the issues raised by the opposition during the demos. Unconfirmed reports stated that Odinga called off the protests after meeting the Head of State in Mombasa, in June.

He denied the reports. However, deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula insisted that Odinga met the president.

The bipartisan team is expected to in the coming weeks make public its report, coming from public forums held at the Bomas of Kenya.