Referendum call a sign Raila and Cord team have run out of ideas
What you need to know:
- The way Kalonzo framed it at Uhuru Park left little doubt that politicians view the supreme law as little more than a political football.
- The Jubilee Alliance has made many mistakes. But Cord should find ways to keep it on its toes without destabilising the country or cooking up expensive charades such as a referendum with few clear goals.
- Raila can be relevant in the Opposition by working to grow his party as Nana Akufo-Addo is doing in Ghana, rather than behaving like the Republicans who declared from day one of the Obama administration that their number one priority was to see the President fail.
There are two sides to Raila Odinga. The first is the skilful politician who crafted a transition from a junior and insignificant position in the Opposition movement Ford into a giant of Kenyan politics.
In the early 1990s, few could have imagined that Raila would jump ahead of the many Young Turks who were regarded as more senior players within the Opposition including Paul Muite, Kijana Wamalwa, James Orengo, Kiraitu Murungi, Anyang’ Nyong’o and others but he somehow found a way to eclipse all his competitors and make his way to the high table of Kenyan politics.
Along the way, he made some major sacrifices for his country, not least in 2007 when he compromised and met Mwai Kibaki halfway, saving Kenya from civil war.
But there is another side to Raila Odinga. This one is a less appealing, all-or-nothing politician who believes in winning at all costs and can be an exceptionally ungraceful player.
It is the Raila summarised by an anecdote narrated in Miguna Miguna’s book, Peeling Back the Mask, describing a discussion the pair had about the tussle for the ODM-Kenya presidential ticket.
“We moved on to the tricks and tactics Kalonzo had tried to use to win the ODM-K presidential nominations (before he eventually ran away with the party). Raila had told me a memorable thing, which I should share. He said ‘Ja-Nyando (Son of Nyando), in wrestling; when two people wrestle, they do everything to win.
“ ‘One may try to grab his opponent’s crotch; the other may try to trip the opponent; but in the end, the one who wins is the one who remains standing or on top of the other. Politics is not any different. Everyone must do whatever he can to win. So, let Kalonzo do everything he can to win’…”
This is the Raila who has emerged as Opposition leader in recent months. The demand for a referendum is a classic example of this second Raila, where political ambition and calculation eclipses all else.
Political football
The way Kalonzo framed it at Uhuru Park left little doubt that politicians view the supreme law as little more than a political football.
Because the government had rejected call for dialogue, he said, Cord was moving to the next step and demanding a referendum.
There are many reasons why this agitation is ill-judged, but one way to understand the dangers in these demands is to read Dr Mukhisa Kituyi’s last article for this newspaper on August 31, 2013.
Kituyi warned of the perils of the “politics of low-hanging fruits” and “an obsessive competition for distributive economics” in which “parties compete on who will strip national government of more money and take to the counties”.
While this approach is popular, the problem is obvious. To move to the next level as a nation, the easiest path is to follow the approach of many Asian nations over the last half century during which they first invested in major infrastructure upgrades and world class technical training to attract investment and jobs and subsequently grew the middle class.
Sending more money to the counties will keep MCAs happy but will amount to cycling backwards. Jubilee will not be in power forever, and one should not pursue changes to the Constitution which they would not have if they were in power.
The call for governors to play a major role in overseeing security in the counties is the kind of thing that paves the way to failed state status. It may work in cohesive counties like Nyeri and Siaya where there is one dominant ethnic group, but in multi-ethnic counties, it will be the prelude to the arming of minorities to shield themselves from the victorious group in county elections.
The Jubilee Alliance has made many mistakes. But Cord should find ways to keep it on its toes without destabilising the country or cooking up expensive charades such as a referendum with few clear goals.
Raila can be relevant in the Opposition by working to grow his party as Nana Akufo-Addo is doing in Ghana, rather than behaving like the Republicans who declared from day one of the Obama administration that their number one priority was to see the President fail.
