Draining diary for Raila Odinga's State House bid

It is Monday, June 20, and the venue is Capitol Hill Square, the private offices of Orange Democratic Movement presidential candidate Raila Odinga. It is a sultry afternoon and Mr Odinga has called the Press to talk about the issue of community lands rights for marginalised communities.

The briefing was scheduled for 12:30pm but he is an hour late. He shows up after a long meeting with a group of Maasai leaders. As we walk in, two men – perhaps supporters, or even candidates in the August election, strategically placed to catch his eye – accost him and, for a few minutes, they engage in a quick, animated discussion.

“I will make sure I do that,” Mr Odinga is overheard telling the two gentlemen as he walks to the podium in the company of MPs Elijah Memusi (Kajiado Central), Mathew Lempurkel (Laikipia North) and the Budalang’i ODM parliamentary candidate Raphael Wanjala.

ASKS JOURNALISTS

“Are you ready?” Mr Odinga asks the horde of journalists. He then goes ahead to read the statement, in which he accuses the Jubilee administration of doing nothing to protect community land rights for the marginalised groups.

Mr Odinga looks already tired but everything is just beginning for him – even though his day started at 5am. The coalition’s campaign schedule indicates he will visit Dagoretti in Nairobi for a rally at 3pm. It is barely an hour to the time but he is yet to prepare for it because he had to deal with the issue that has kicked up a political storm.

Jubilee politicians, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, have called for Mr Odinga’s arrest for allegedly creating ethnic disharmony in Kajiado. It is a matter he has ignored for the past four days but, today, in the face of a growing cacophony, he had been forced to respond.

The fatigue in him is palpable after a week of intense movement as the former Prime Minister criss-crosses the country in a vote hunt. Just last Tuesday, he addressed the national elections conference at KICC and thereafter, with his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka, flew out of the country to an undisclosed destination.

The foreign travel took a day and the two returned on Thursday afternoon and headed to Kajiado West Constituency, where he made the remarks Jubilee leaders say are inflammatory.

On Friday and Saturday, the Nasa team was in upper Eastern. On Sunday, after a whirlwind tour of Meru and Tharaka-Nithi, Mr Odinga joined his family for the second birthday party of his grandson Raila Odinga Junior II.

After the statement, a journalist shoots a question at Mr Memusi. Mr Odinga appears relieved and, as if he was expecting it, pulls the MP to the podium, steps back and sits on the ledge for a moment of rest.

The press conference is over and the Nasa flagbearer is out for another meeting. It’s 2pm, but, even after several meetings, his day is just starting.

The entourage ends up at Uchumi Supermarket, Westlands, where, as he looks around for the birthday present accompanied by his son’s family and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, Mr Odinga comes face to face with empty shelves where maize flour is usually stocked.

Nasa Campaign Secretariat CEO Norman Magaya says preparations for the coalition’s campaigns are an intense affair that involves high-level and elaborate consultations among the five co-principals, the think tank and the local leadership during which the appropriate theme of the rally is designed and the message crafted.

“It always starts a day before the campaign rally, when the principals meet with the local leaders from the area where the campaign is headed,” Mr Magaya explained, pointing out that Mr Odinga had met Maasai leaders from Kajiado before the Tuesday tour of the county.

LOCAL LEADERS

Nasa has established regional coordinators of the secretariat, from where local leaders with a grasp of issues are identified. In most cases, it consists of MPs, MCAs, the governor where necessary and other senior officials of the affiliate political party.

Issues raised by the leaders form the first step in developing a theme, or even the message.

Mr Magaya says more often the views of such leaders are paired with reports from the coalition’s call centre to develop a common ground of what is of interest to the local people. The centre is the coalition’s research unit, whose mandate is to gather relevant information, which is collated and analysed.

Armed with the information from both ends, Mr Odinga, or his co-principals, as the case may be, discuss with the think tank the issues, where a decision on the cause of action is taken. The prominent members of the think tank are economist David Ndii, University of Nairobi don Adams Oloo, former East African Regional Assembly member Abubakar Zein, anti-graft crusader John Githongo and other members of the Secretariat’s technical team, including the communication unit.