By Mwenda Njoka
If there is one characteristic that the CORD presidential aspirant Raila Odinga has distinguished himself with, then that trait must be the man’s indefatigable capacity and resilience.
To friends and foes, Raila is one politician who seems to have inexhaustible quantity of political energy, something that comes in extremely handy in an election year.
In his book, The Rogue Ambassador, the late US ambassador to Kenya, Smith Hempstone describes Raila as “a tough, robust politician used to living in rough conditions” by dint of his many years in prison as a political detainee.
Another feature that distinguishes Raila from many of his political competitors is his ability to excite (and his critics will say incite) crowds to a level of fanaticism.
It is perhaps for this reason that the former Vice-President, the late Michael Wamalwa Kijana once described Raila as a political hated and loved in equal measures leading to what the then VP aptly described as “Railamania” (among his supporters and fans) and Railaphobia (to his critics and political enemies).
Over the years and by virtue of being the most-detained politician in Kenya (he has had three stints in detention), Raila has cut the image of a ‘people’s champion’, and this is something that has worked well for him building him a significant bedrock of support among the so-called downtrodden.
In a discussion sometimes back with Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, who in the past worked closely with Raila Odinga during the struggle for the Second Liberation of Kenya in 1990s, Kiraitu had this to say about: “I have worked closely with Raila and I know the man is extremely tenacious when it comes to pushing his agenda. He has unlimited capacity when it comes to political campaigning.”
Not one to under-estimate
This description of Raila’s capacity and abilities is echoed by a well-connected city wheeler-dealer who too has operated closely with Raila although the two appear to have since parted ways. His description of Raila’s character: “you should never under-estimate Raila. The man is lethal and performs at his best when he finds himself in a tight corner.”
Back to Smith Hempstone’s book, the Rogue Ambassador that captures the period he served as US envoy in Kenya at the height of the struggle for political pluralism, the late ambassador recalls a time he had to advice the then US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Herman Cohen how to deal with Kenya ahead of the 1992 general elections.
The former ambassador writes: “I cabled Cohen telling him ‘I am not sure you have taken into account the depth and breadth of the opposition politics in Kenya. A man such as Raila Odinga will tell you he did not spend over decade in Moi’s prisons to come and provide window dressing for yet another rigged election. Raila and others are convinced that a flawed voter registration will lead to skewed election...” Hempstone book aptly captures the rebellious streak in Raila’s political DNA, which makes the man a fearsome opponent.
Penchant for Machiavellian style
Raila is reputed to be an overly calculating and tactical politician with a penchant for Machiavellian style of politics where the ends justify the means.
To his critics, Raila’s alleged involvement in the 1982 failed coup attempt against the government of President Moi is strong evidence of this Machiavellian streak in the CORD presidential aspirant.
It was after the failed coup that President Moi detained Raila for six years years only to be released and detained once more. His last stint in detention lasted until 1991 when Moi had him released because it had become politically untenable to continue holding political detainees due the then changed world politics following the fall of communism.
Raila’s calculating political nature and ability to turn a misfortune into a political fortune came in 2002 when he merged his then political party National Development Party (NDP) with Kanu only to emerge out of the merger with much more than he had gone in with.
At the time it was apparent that the primary motivation for Raila to make an alliance with a political party and a President he, Raila, had spent almost all his adult life trying to dislodge from power was the hope that teaming up with a retiring Moi may provide him (Raila) with a golden fulcrum on which to climb to power. When Raila realised that Moi had other intentions, and not to have him (Raila) inherit power, he quickly jumped ship, leaving the ruling Kanu much weaker than he had found it.
It is this single act of walking out of the Kanu that emboldened former party stalwarts such as the late George Saitoti, Moody Awori, Kalonzo Musyoka to also quit the then ruling party mortally injuring a party that everyone had assumed was too powerful and strong to lose a general election.
Raila had joined Kanu with a personal agenda to use the party to inherit power from Moi. When he realised this was not going to work, Raila moved swiftly and paid Moi back in kind.
Raila teamed up with Mwai Kibaki and helped him win the presidency in the 2002 general election. When he joined Kibaki in 2002, Raila must have known that the incoming leader would provide a weakened presidency – both physically and figuratively. With such a presidency, Raila then would have been in a position to be the real power behind the throne. But things did not happen this way and Raila found himself shunted from the centre of power. From that point he started plotting how to dislodge President Kibaki because he was convinced Kibaki had short-changed him. The bitter seeds of 2007 General Election were planted at this point.
By and large, what emerges when looks closely at Raila’s character is a resilient politician who never die. That is the essence that makes Tinga tick.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment