American getaway gives Raila new lease of life as his party puts up united front

PHOTO | DENISH OCHIENG Cord supporters march in the streets of Nairobi on May 31, 2014 ahead of the anticipated arrival of the coalition's leader Raila Odinga.

What you need to know:

  • The lecture and study fellowship supported by the US State Department is supposed to develop the African studies programme by providing space for African leaders to share their experiences and engage in discussion with academics, business and political leaders.
  • The Cord coalition that includes Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula as joint principals alongside Mr Odinga also seemed to have found a new mission, purpose and sense of unity.

A homecoming like that accorded opposition leader Raila Odinga on Saturday is usually reserved for a political hero coming home from lengthy incarceration or exile; or at least a triumphant return with good tidings from some critical mission.

But Mr Odinga’s two-month absence hardly fits into any such category. He was away in the United States on a junket that seemed more about rest and recreation rather than any essential business.
He initially left on a one-month programme hosted by Boston University’s African Presidential Centre.

The lecture and study fellowship supported by the US State Department is supposed to develop the African studies programme by providing space for African leaders to share their experiences and engage in discussion with academics, business and political leaders. In reality, it serves mainly to keep retired African leaders busy and maybe help them feel a bit useful to society and away from mischief.

After Mr Odinga’s progamme at Boston was over, he extended his stay, spending his time giving lectures at universities and think-tanks across the eastern United States, meeting leaders from various spheres and attending functions hosted by the Kenyan community.

He regularly updated his Facebook page with photographs from rather mundane activities such as playing soccer with students and staff, receiving visitors in his temporary office, addressing university congregations, at church services or having a bite at a KFC outlet.

That the opposition leader seemed to be doing nothing really important in the US — nothing like meeting President Obama or key White House and State Department officials — led to all kind of rumour and speculation.

A prevalent one amongst Jubilee government supporters was that he must have been on a secret mission to stir up trouble at home with support of the US government. Another was that he had gone for medical treatment.

The timing of Mr Odinga’s departure, in any case, was rather fortuitous, coming in the wake of an implosion in his ODM, when the now infamous ‘men-in-black’, a group of thugs close to his political machine, violently disrupted the party polls at Kasarani Stadium to prevent a slate headed by Mr Ababu Namwamba and Mr Hassan Joho from wresting leadership.

The party was deeply fractured when Mr Odinga left, and at the same time he was facing growing restlessness in his hitherto impregnable Nyanza political base where an appreciable number of MPs and party leaders were openly rebelling.

Mr Odinga indeed left a divided and leaderless house. When he returned yesterday to a rapturous, if rather chaotic, welcome, it was to a re-energised opposition clearly preparing itself for a sustained assault on the Jubilee administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Ruto.

The cracks in ODM seem to have been healed, at least for the moment, with Mr Namwamba and Mr Joho sharing centre stage on the Uhuru Park dais as part of the interim power-sharing leadership installed in the wake of the Kasarani fiasco.

The Cord coalition that includes Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula as joint principals alongside Mr Odinga also seemed to have found a new mission, purpose and sense of unity.

If Mr Odinga departed for the US in mid-March with his party in tatters, his political mystique deflated, and his prospects as Cord flagbearer come 2017 seemingly waning, his triumphant return indicated a re-energised opposition legend fully in control and all set to launch a new phase of his long quest for State House.

Even putting aside the euphoria of the moment, the kind of welcome Mr Odinga received must have served to remind Mr Musyoka, Mr Wetang’ula and others in Cord weighing their options that none of them can put on such a show and command such a committed following.

Cord now intends to sustain the pressure against the Kenyatta government with a series of rallies across the country that seem to have Jubilee running scared.

In the run-up to the Uhuru Park welcome, the Opposition got an unintended boost when Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo banned all political rallies citing security concerns. The uproar was immediate, and amidst complaints that the government was going back to the single-party culture of stifling opposing views, Mr Kimaiyo did a quick about-turn. President Kenyatta’s spin masters went out of their way to tell the media that it was the President who had personally called for the ban to be lifted as he was not one to bar opposition gatherings.

It was clear from the first of the preparatory rallies in Kibera, followed by Baba Ndogo and Kitengela, that government circles were extremely wary of what might be in store.

The political tension was palpable as Mr Odinga made his way home yesterday, and he found it prudent to urge supporters to exercise restraint in both word and action.

It remains to be seen what shape the coming opposition campaigns will take. Mr Odinga will have ready made a treasure trove of issues on which to hammer the Jubilee government, as enumerated by those who spoke yesterday, but elections are still a long time away and there is every likelihood that premature campaigns can lead to early burn-out.

Rifts in ODM may have been papered over for now, but Mr Odinga’s return might lead to demands for conclusion of the party polls.

Mr Musyoka and Mr Wetangula will also both still want to retain space in a coalition where Mr Odinga’s ardent supporters seem to recognise only one centre of reference.

Writer is Managing Editor, special projects, Daily Nation.