Realignments are normal ahead of elections

When English footballer Michael Owen left Liverpool FC for Real Madrid in the 2004/05 season, he did so with the hope of winning the coveted European Champions League with the latter. But although Owen did score some very important goals for Real Madrid in his first season, his life was rather miserable as he always started on the bench. Worse still, Liverpool FC, which he had abandoned, were crowned the winners of the European Champions League in 2005.

During these times of political realignment, a number of leaders in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) are positioning themselves to jump ship to other political outfits, with the hope of negotiating for positions.

ODM members have noted the intentions of such leaders who have chosen not to stick with the political party whose electoral machinery they have worked so hard to build, and where they have a voice and practical utility, but have instead chosen to join crowded political parties where they can only play peripheral roles, and perpetuate political ideals they probably don’t believe in.

In the past as well, some of these leaders have on several occasions gone public to state that their DNA does not rhyme with those political parties.

ODM has mass following because of its ideals, for social equity, human rights, good governance, equal franchise, and participatory democracy values.

POLITICAL BRAND

Indeed, Party Leader Raila Odinga has remained a political brand in this country because of his consistency in articulating these values. Civil society outside Parliament followed him to team up with Mwai Kibaki to dismantle Kanu in 2002. Civil society also joined that side in 2010, when it campaigned for the current Constitution, which ushered in the county governments as we know them today.

ODM colleagues and Cord members made efforts to kickstart the Okoa Kenya referendum with the aim of devolving more resources to the counties so that resources at the centre are further devolved for developing the grassroots in order to reduce poverty as stipulated in the ODM 2007 election manifesto and in the harmonised Cord documents during the 2013 vote.

These are the ideals that need to see the light of the day. These are the ideals that will be realised when Cord forms the government. This is the reason why Kenya must have an election body that will be beyond reproach. An election body whose results all Kenyans can be confident about, one that can start off with a clear election register and follow through systematically until the end, one that will be able to count in a transparent and open manner to the last vote.

There must be an equitable ground for managing elections to ensure free and fair elections. Other countries have attained this threshold, to name but a few, Nigeria and Tanzania.

Such an election should be able to hear clearly the choices that Kenya makes, choices that will ensure that Kenya will not be plagued with issues of corruption, insecurity, bungled education, and soaring unemployment.

Making these changes for posterity are the ideals that ODM and Cord stand for, ideals like those Owen probably also held, before he moved to Real Madrid. These are the ideals that resonate with Kenyans that epitomise a call to change for prosperity, a call that ODM and Cord have been enshrined in and which the coalition stands for.

The moral of the story, that Michael Owen later has rejoined Liverpool Club as the club’s ambassador, though a move criticised by fans, epitomises a realisation of those ideals he stood for.

Dr Agnes Zani is a Nominated Senator and the acting secretary-general of the Orange Democratic Movement.