The British House of Parliament will on Sunday honour President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM Leader Raila Odinga with the African Peace Award 2018 for the famous handshake deal made in March this year.
The award is presented every year before the month of October which the UK observes as Black History Month meant to honour people who have made contributions towards achievement of African people.
However, it is now clear that Odinga and Kenyatta will not be present at the ceremony which will be held at London Metropolitan university.
According to one of the local dailies, State House was not aware of the award with sources terming the news as ‘fake.’
On the other hand, Raila’s team confirmed receipt of the honours.
“I can confirm to you that Mr Odinga indeed received a notification of the award, and an invitation to receive it in London. But he has informed the organisers that he is held up,” Odinga’s spokesman, Mr Dennis Onyango, was quoted.
Another nominee in a different category, Josephine Odhiambo, stated that she had been directed to receive the award on behalf of the former Prime Minister.
“I spoke to Mr Odinga and when he realised I was coming to the LPS to receive a different award as part of the Black History Month, he asked me to receive this handshake award, and make remarks on his behalf,” Odhiambo who is a former deputy secretary-general of the Commonwealth stated.
Announcing the award that is part of their Black History Month, the organizer of the summit, Gordon Azu stated that the two were well deserving of the honours.
“These two great men have a long rich history behind them, as both their parents were the founding fathers of the Kenyan political and democratic history. It is a great privilege to identify with their latest leadership style which infers immense political maturity right now,” he conveyed.