RAILA PHOBIA AND PHILIA

Raila Odinga goes down in history as the politician most talked and written about this decade in Kenya and who inspired and influenced most political activities that defined the destiny of many.

From taking his first stab at the presidency in 1997 to leading the giant ODM to the polls ten years later only to be declared loser in highly controversial circumstances, Raila has commanded the political calendar over the last decade.

It is through his prism that politics have been viewed and shaped, if not cracked.

Similarly political careers of many have been built, rediscovered, rejuvenated and destroyed — all in the name of working with or fighting Raila.

Political oblivion

Former Vice-President Moody Awori, ex-Cabinet ministers Oloo Aringo, Odongo Omamo, Simeon Nyachae, Mukhisa Kituyi, Raphael Tuju, Newton Kulundu, and Musikari Kombo are among the names condemned to political oblivion for standing in his way.

Yet others like Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, and ministers George Saitoti (Internal Security), William Ruto (Agriculture), William Ntimama (National Heritage), Fred Gumo (Regional Development) and Najib Balala (Tourism) have Raila to thank for reinventing themselves.

The ministers and scores of others, including former Mathioya MP Joseph Kamotho, were loyalists and hawks of the one-party Kanu regime.

They were plucked from the party by Raila following his party NDP’s short-lived marriage with Kanu and subsequent fallout. While the rest left with the PM to LDP and then Narc, Ruto joined him five years later in ODM.

Others like James Orengo, Anyang’ Nyong’o and Dalmas Otieno, who had initially parted ways with Raila, are ‘back in the fold’.

Former Vice-President Mudavadi, who lost his Saboti parliamentary seat in 2002 while in Kanu, has found his feet after reuniting with the PM.

The Lang’ata MP is also said to attract mania (extreme enthusiasm and admiration) and phobia (intense fear) in equal measure, at least according to former Vice-President the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa.

That the Raila factor still influences political events is demonstrated by the latest regrouping of Kalonzo, Uhuru, Ruto and Balala, who regard the PM as the common enemy.

Over the years, Raila’s political journey has been complex, but emphatic.

Kibaki tosha

Most significantly, his famous "Kibaki Tosha" declaration at Uhuru Park on October 14, 2002, marked the beginning of Kibaki’s journey to win the country’s presidency, ending Kanu’s 40-year rule.

Raila spearheaded the campaigns as Kibaki was indisposed and condemned to a wheelchair following a road accident. But once in office, the rift between the President and Raila widened. This eventually led to a falling out and Raila’s decision to challenge Kibaki in the 2007 presidential poll. The disputed poll results turned bloody before the mediation talks that led to the formation of the Grand Coalition Government with Kibaki.

Done well

Now in a shared government as PM, Raila has done well, at times risking his future political career, especially on an issue such as the recovery of the Mau complex.

The Mau recovery has been the cause of his political differences with his Deputy Party Leader and Agriculture Minister William Ruto.

Depending on how he handles the Mau issue to its logical end and other thorny issues within the fragile coalition, the PM may make or break his career ahead of the 2012 elections.

Raila is married to Ida Odinga. They have four children, two sons Fidel, Raila Jr, and two daughters, Rosemary and Winnie.