Once mighty crow of the Kanu Jogoo has vanished somewhere in North Rift
The Kanu flag.
What you need to know:
- The once mighty crow of the jogoo is no longer heard nationally.
- Of late, it has been trying to fluff up its feathers at carefully selected venues in the Rift Valley.
These days, it is hard to tell whether Kanu wants to be a serious political party or the personal vessel for Senator Gideon Moi of Baringo and his few trusted cronies.
The once mighty crow of the jogoo is no longer heard nationally but, of late, it has been trying to fluff up its feathers at carefully selected venues in the Rift Valley.
Senator Moi and his sidekick Nick Salat, the secretary-general, have been huffing and puffing about launching a nationwide membership registration blitz, which may never kick off. Their obsession with doing the rounds only in places like Bomet, Kericho, Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties suggests their interests are very much localised.
And, true to form, the issues the pair are always harping about in those counties they hold public meetings are about the woes of grain farmers in the North and South Rift, and of Mau evictees who had encroached into the forest illegally. They go remarkably silent on the big national issues of the day such as devolution, the war against Al-Shabaab, or what should be done about corruption.
Of course, the target of their incursions has been Deputy President William Ruto, whose outburst not too long ago about people he claimed wanted him jailed by the ICC provoked strong reactions from the senator’s allies. It also betrayed a certain panic by the DP regarding Mr Moi’s activities.
Conventional wisdom has it that Mr Moi stands little chance in an open contest with the DP among the Kalenjin. Maybe. Mr Moi has an unfortunate handicap of speaking like an outer space alien at public rallies.
However, he has the money and the name to cause a great deal of pain to the DP in their common Kalenjin backyard. After all, he didn’t begin his life selling chicken and roast maize on roadsides.
ANTIPATHY
I have absolutely no idea what Mr Moi is going for. I have my doubts with the talk that he wants to “grab” Mr Ruto’s position, much as it is apparent the senator would hardly weep if the DP badly stumbled. Already on social media there is a small army of what sounds like his loyalists busy throwing muck at the DP.
Nominally, Kanu is in alliance with Jubilee, but Mr Moi is anything but. His known antipathy towards the DP aside, one senses he is not particularly fond of President Uhuru Kenyatta either, or his administration.
First of all, there is that I-am-the-son-of-a-former-president-too sort of thing. Also, he has been telling his listeners not to agree to be “swallowed” by the Jubilee Alliance Party, the dead-on-arrival baby of Mr Kenyatta’s. This strikes a cord with Mr Ruto’s URP cohorts, who are deeply suspicious of the proposed party.
Mr Salat is given to more colourful language. He describes the notional Kenyatta-to-Ruto handover in 2022 as a bad cheque which is likely to bounce on due date. “Why not 2017?” he prods the DP, provocatively. Mercifully, though, Mr Moi has not openly offered himself as a 2017 presidential alternative.
In the scheme of things, Kanu could link up with ODM as an ally. The problem is that there is a major impediment – former president Daniel arap Moi. The disdain with which the real Baba holds the other one has long been an open book.
Thus, it is unlikely the retired president will allow his son to stray in that direction. ODM knows it and has also steered clear of the senator. It is entirely possible Mr Kalonzo Musyoka would love to link up with Moi junior.
The Wiper leader retains a deep hangover from the Nyayo era. It was at that time that he thrived best. Everything ever since has been topsy-turvy for him. Question is whether Moi junior considers the former VP to be of any political value.
