How Nasa’s Raila discovered brother from another mum

Blood is thicker than water: Nothing illustrates this better than the earthquake created by Kenya’s political rivals shaking hands as double excellencies last week.

Discovering a sudden blood kinship between Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta has made these erstwhile bitter political rivals accustomed to trading choice encomiums like ‘drunkard’ and ‘sorcerer’ to refer to one another only as brothers.

Getting together has not been easy. It has taken a dalliance with treason, for which Ruaraka Member of Parliament Tom Kajwang is facing a charge; and lawyer Miguna Miguna lost his Kenyan passport, had it perforated and was placed on a flight with a one-way ticket to Toronto.

Accusations of the sozzled dodderer squelching the lives of opposition supporters underfoot and the necromancer dancing on the economic graves of enterprise are now a distant and hazy memory.

They have both committed to give everyone a chance, fight corruption without using it as a tool for witch-hunt.

No wounds are too deep to eliminate the debt of blood between brothers.

RAILA OATH
Previously, Mr Odinga had taken oath as the 'people’s president', unleashing a flood of sanctions against his lieutenants, such as the suspension of passports, the withdrawal of security for himself and his cousins in opposition leadership, and a slew of court charges against his allies.

With one handshake, Mr Odinga’s treason has been forgiven, suspended passports brought down to within legal reach and all charges of illegal possession of firearms withdrawn.

Exiles like Dr Roselyn Akombe, who had renounced their Kenyan citizenship, can come back, and so too can deportees like Miguna — as long as they undertake to live their obscure lives in relative quiet.

This is what the brothers deliver when they promise to protect human rights – as long as people are responsible.

POLICE BRUTALITY
Out of the respect the two leaders have for each other and for Kenyans generally, bullets shot at protestors will ricochet back into police guns, murderous truncheons recoil to swinging sideways and tear gas will turn to eucalyptus vapour. There should be no hate on the basis of ethnicity.

It has been 50 years since Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta’s fathers parted ways, one to capitalist heaven and the other to communist hell.

The 50th year is a time in which liberty is proclaimed to all the inhabitants of the country. It is the year of Jubilee.

Those in economic slavery in every part of the country will be freed; losses repaired and a period of restoration began.

Together, the brothers will look for the right skills and attitudes from as many backgrounds as possible to make Kenya inclusive.

REPEAT ELECTION
Those who suspiciously view this natural amity among brothers as betrayal wish to imprison Kenya in the distorted image as the capital of corruption and violence.

In fact, those who fan war within and without should know that they will be coming up against a united brotherhood.

Since elections on their own cannot solve national challenges, Mr Odinga’s demand for a repeat presidential election this August is off the table.

His running mate in the August 2017 election, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, should cool it about taking oath as the people’s deputy president.

PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLIES

Similarly, the people's assemblies which were going around the country stirring trouble in the counties have to be suspended lest they encourage Kenyans to consider the possibilities of secession.

All’s well that ends well in Kenya’s high-octane politics: Drunkard and sorcerer lurch towards the political sunset, their hands clasping each other’s back as uproarious laughter echoes from the approaching darkness.

Tomorrow, the sun will rise again with the official launch of the Brotherhood’s Programme of Action. Let bygones be bygones.

The writer is a Programme Adviser, Journalists for Justice. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of JFJ. [email protected]