Jubilee has no chance of beating united Opposition leaders

What is at stake in the August 8 elections?

The 2017 elections will be the most consequential in the history of Kenya.

It’s as important — if not more important — than the 2002 elections in which Kenyans buried Kanu.

In my view, Jubilee is the reincarnation of Kanu.

What is surprising is that even with the 2010 Constitution, the Jubilee regime has turned out to be the most corrupt in the history of Kenya.

It has looted dry the Kenyan Treasury. It has put Kenya deeply into public debt.

The amounts of debt taken under Jubilee are unprecedented in Kenya’s history.

That is why the 2017 elections matters so much.

Re-electing Jubilee will put Kenya in an irreversible decline and send the country deep into recession, dysfunction, and dictatorship.

In a word, Kenyans should not re-elect the regime which is a government of proto-fascists.

How then, do you think Cord should approach the campaigns?
My own belief is that Cord shouldn’t go into the elections alone.

It needs to create a number-proof super alliance with Amani and the rebels within Jubilee (Kanu, Bomet’s Issac Ruto, and Meru’s Peter Munya).

This super alliance will create an impregnable wall that should decimate Jubilee.

Secondly, Cord can’t be undone by the competing egos of its principals.

The principals in Cord must decide whether they hate each other more than they hate Jubilee and whether they want to remain in political Siberia for another five to 10 years.

Because if they let their egos get in the way, Jubilee will destroy them and laugh all the way to re-election.

Lastly, if Cord wants the support of civil society, then I suggest the super alliance comes up with a credible reform platform that they will implement if they come to power.

This platform must commit to fully implement the Constitution (one-third gender rule, devolution, judicial independence, anti-corruption, detribalisation of the state, equitable distribution of resources, respect for civic space, a progressive foreign policy, correcting past injustices, land reforms and tackling insecurity).

The super alliance will not get the support of civil society without these solid commitments.

Momentum for Cord and other parties to unite seems to be building up. Can a 2002-like euphoria work in 2017?

Cord and Amani plus others who are disaffected by Jubilee’s misrule can easily recreate the Narc euphoria of 2002.

It’s on there for their taking. Jubilee has panicked.

That is why it is clamping down on leading civil society organisations like the Kenya Human Rights Commission thorough its hatchet men like Fazul Mohamed.

That’s why Jubilee is attacking its critics and withdrawing security of governors critical to it like Hassan Joho.

President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have seen the writing on the wall.

So has Aden Duale — that is why he is planning to ethnically cleanse the Akamba from Garissa.

What do the incumbents have to lose, and how far do you think they will go to win?

It is clear to me that Kenyatta and Ruto will do everything to be returned to power.

That is why they are packing constitutional bodies with political cronies and gerrymandering elections laws.

That is why the regime is looting the public purse to buy elections. This is not rocket science.

That is why they are suppressing IFES and civil society. They are trying to look for an ICC-like issue which they used in 2013. But none exists.

I believe the duo of Kenyatta and Ruto think they have a lot to lose — especially Ruto, who is counting on re-election to use it as a platform to 2022.

Kenyatta himself is captive to a tribal mafia that thinks it is going to be Armageddon if he loses.

So I think the regime will try everything — including rigging — to be returned to power. But Kenyans are wiser and Gambia offers them good lessons.

Looking at the mood in the country right now, are Kenyans prepared for a regime change or are they prepared for five more years under President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto?

Kenyans are sick and tired of theft and corruption, insecurity, impunity and a tribalised state.

They want the values of the 2010 Constitution implemented, which Jubilee has sabotaged.

Like 2002, Kenyans are more than ready for regime change.

They will sweep Kenyatta and Ruto out of power. I have no doubt about it.

It has been a long nightmare for most Kenyans the last five years.

Interviews by Peter Oduor and Julius Sigei.