Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Raila Amolo Odinga is rebranding



Nairobi/The Truth Weekly, August 8th – 14th 2011/By Truth Team
Raila Amolo Odinga is rebranding. He is shading off his activist, chieftaincy, ethnic and populist past and reshaping into an executive, presidential, national and realist politician in readiness to the forthcoming general election.
And in doing the biblical Saul to Paul transformation there have been and more will continue being losers and gainers. Miguna Miguna is one of the casualties of the process while one Eliud Owalo is a beneficiary.
The question in most of Raila’s admirers is whether this strategy will work this time round. It has been a long way and if the son of Kenya’s first vice president doesn’t rise to the presidency this time, he may never.
The prime minister has been working on a strategy to have hitherto unfriendly regions of the country embrace him, and so far he seems to be doing well.
Mid last week two members of the Mt Kenya region, one of the PMs difficult areas, endorsed him for Kenya’s fourth president.
Imenti Central Member of Parliament Gitobu Imanyara and former Ntonyiri legislator came out last week and declared that it was time the country made Raila president.
Starehe MP Bishop Magaret Wanjiru was even bolder. She told the country that it cannot afford to be ruled by only two tribes.
Speaking in Homabay last week the assistant minister for housing said t was time leaders from Central and Rift Valley provinces learnt to live with other communities.
“I know that some people will not like it but the truth is that two tribes can not rule this country for eternity”, said the bishop.
The Assistant Minister won applause and cheers from the crowd after she declared that she would rally behind the PM’s bid for the Presidency come next year.
The PM’s presence has also been effected in the Coast, the North Eastern Frontier and most importantly the Rift Valley.
The man from the lakeside Nyanza province is also gradually shading off the ragamuffin dress code associated with his activism days. He now spots designer suits on week days and smart casuals over the weekend.
Mr Odinga’s advisors are reportedly being reshuffled. Pundits have argued in the past that it is the people around the Langata MP that scare away would be admirers. And the PM seems to have heard them. Miguna Miguna, the epitome of arrogance that puts off many non Luo Kenyans was axed from the PM’s office last week.
Medical Services minister Anyang Nyong has also toned down on his vociferous and combative Raila damu tendency. In their place people from other ethnic communities are coming up to advance the PM’s ambition.
The PM has also personally been seeking to have his traditional supporters go easy and allow the whole country to “own” him.
He has, for instance asked the Luo to tone down on perceived arrogance, embrace other communities, and pay up for rented houses in towns.
Within the ODM there has been disquiet over Nyanza politicians who have formed a ring around the PM. There are however deliberate strategies to push this Luo inner circle aside, at least for the time being.
The PM is reported to be working hard to shade off the tendency of being taken hostage by his community.
But will the reloaded Raila convince a substantial percentage of Kenyans to vote for him. That is in doubt. A section of central Kenya political leadership is still keen to have one of their own take the leadership of the country.
Last week twenty-six MPs from the larger Mt Kenya region endorsed Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta as the area’s political torchbearer, and as such their preffered president after Kibaki.
The MPs drawn from Central, parts of the Rift Valley,Eastern, and  Nairobi picked the Finance Minister and Kanu chairman as their leader after a six-hour meeting in Nairobi.
The leaders also voted in favour of a political alliance that would bring together leaders from the region before the General Election.
They mandated Uhuru to reach out to other leaders across the country and craft political alliances. The Gatundu South MP was picked during a meeting at the Co-operative Training College, Karen, and mandated to unite people from the region.
It is however imperative to note that those who have expressed interest in the Presidency from the region such as Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth and  Gichugu MP Martha Karua were not invited.
And in Raila’s own backyard there is former Rarieda MP Raphael Tuju who has also  indicated that he will run for the top seat in the next general election.
Sources inside President Mwai Kibaki’s circles  have intimated to Truth Weekly that Tuju is one of the favourites of the retiring head of state to take over the mantle of the country’s leadership.
The sources say president Kibaki has chosen to back Tuju’s presidential race, albeit silently.
Tuju stuck with Kibaki at a time when doing so was tantamount to political suicide especially for a player in the Luo Nyanza scene. He paid the price. Despite having the best development record in Nyanza during the 9thparliament, Tuju was voted out as an MP at the 2007 election simply because he supported Kibaki against Raila for presidency.
The PM has this in  mind and is thought to be thinking of a way of shading off this obstacle to his way to state house.

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