Questions for Raila Odinga from a non-voting, neutral observer

What you need to know:

  • Is it possible for you to find anything good to say about the standard gauge railway? And if not the project itself (yes, some crooked officials may have eaten from it), maybe just the Madaraka Express?
  • I assume you are already aware that the ballot printing will start within a week, if it hasn’t started already. Does it worry you that interfering with the electoral agency’s self-imposed “timelines” could undermine its ability to conduct the elections?
  • You probably think Kenyans owe you a ride to that famed house on the hill (and I don’t blame you). But maybe you should consider other ways to serve the country.

Sir, some of my colleagues here in the newsroom call you Raila (suggesting a personal relationship with you that we all know doesn’t really exist).

I’ll break with that fake palsy-walsy posture and address you by your last name — Odinga — as I do with most public figures.

We are both busy — you have voters to woo and I have copy to clean up so I can buy unga for the 13-year-old boy at home — and so I’ll get straight to the point.

Is it possible for you to find anything good to say about the standard gauge railway? And if not the project itself (yes, some crooked officials may have eaten from it), maybe just the Madaraka Express?

I haven’t been on the passenger trains myself, but people who have made the Nairobi-Mombasa journey on them are gushing about how comfortable and fast they are. Isn’t it good enough that travellers now have an alternative to the buses that take all day to cover those 472 kilometres?

How hard can it be to acknowledge at least that bit — that Kenyans have new passenger trains on a brand-new track that they like very much? Just so you know, when you refuse to see this very obvious point, you come across as petty and dishonest.

WHY SO JUMPY?

Regarding the August elections, you seem to have become very jumpy about your chances of winning. OK, that’s what some people, mostly your opponents, are reading into your recent comments. Your remarks smell of desperation.

For example, you want the ballot paper printing tender awarded to Dubai’s Al Ghurair cancelled because of claims about perceived improprieties in the awarding of the contract. That sounds like an attempt to derail the elections, scheduled for August 8, less than two months from now.

I assume you are already aware that the ballot printing starts this week, if it hasn’t started already. Does it worry you that interfering with the electoral agency’s self-imposed “timelines” could undermine its ability to conduct the elections? What would you gain if the elections don’t happen as scheduled in August?

Finally, I was wondering whether you read last Friday’s column by our boss Mutuma Mathiu. If you missed it, I suggest you look it up on our website or Google it on your smartphone. Like all of Mathiu’s pieces, this one too was spot-on.

He asked half-jokingly whether you've considered the possibility that you may be bad at winning elections and whether you would think about serving your country in another arena away from politics.

ALIENATING POTENTIAL SUPPORTERS

I’m glad Mathiu spoke for me — because those have been exactly my questions too. You have no idea how many of your potential supporters you have alienated this election season (forget me — I don’t vote; it’d require a book to explain why).

Two questions I keep hearing: What does he really want? Is the presidency worth the troubles his comments might cause in these tense times?

I mean, people are printing leaflets in Kajiado urging non-Maasai to leave for their own sake. And they are attributing their actions to comments you made during a recent campaign rally there.

You probably think Kenyans owe you a ride to that famed house on the hill (and I don’t blame you). But maybe you should consider other ways to serve the country.

Several years ago, I saw a video clip of you on your farm, in an overcoat and a big cowboy hat, examining an ear of maize (or maybe I was dreaming).

You seem to love the countryside as much as I do. Have you considered passing on the torch of resistance to the younger generation, maybe, and spend peaceful, stress-free days on that farm of yours?

Mr Gekonde is a Nation online sub-editor; [email protected].