Opposition leader Raila Odinga features in controversial Hillary Clinton e-mails

Opposition leader Raila Odinga features in one of the controversial e-mails released by the US State Department about former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Raila is named in the correspondence for his utterances in 2009 during his tenure as prime minister in which he is reported to have dismissed Clinton and American 'interference' in Kenyan affairs.

Kenya Opposition leader Raila Odinga (PHOTO: TITUS OTEBA)

In one of the mails sent to Clinton by an influential Democratic Party think tank in 2009, reference is made to ODM leader and how he dismissed the former Secretary of State and American 'interference' in Kenyan affairs during her visit to the country.

The mail quoted an article in the Associated Press in which Raila reportedly told Clinton that he was not interested in lectures from the West.

At the time, Raila served as the country's Prime Minister under the coalition government headed by then President Mwai Kibaki.

Clinton had made a tour of several African counties, including Liberia and Congo.

During his recent visit to Kenya, US President Barack Obama dismissed an unnamed opposition leader whom he said was quick to dismiss America when he was in power, but was now calling upon America to be tough on the Jubilee Government.

Obama made the remarks after a meeting with Opposition leaders Raila, Moses Wetang'ula and Martha Karua.

"In Liberia, Hillary Clinton brought out the crowds despite torrential rain. In Congo, she came away deeply shaken from a meeting with rape victims. Kenya's prime minister said Africa didn't need lectures from the West about democracy, but Africa got one anyway," reads the article from the Associated Press.

It continues: "Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking hours before Clinton arrived, said Africa did not need to be lectured about democracy." After they met, she did just that.

"The absence of strong and effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence and a lack of respect for a rule of law," Clinton said. "These conditions are continuing to hold Kenya back," the news agency reported.

The e-mail was sent to Clinton from Eleisson Group, a highly regarded consulting firm within the Democratic Party.

The correspondence is one of the thousands of emails that have placed the Democratic Party frontrunner for the 2016 ticket in the cross hairs of her Republican rivals, who have accused her of using her private servers to send and receive confidential mails.