By MAKAU MUTUA
Posted Saturday, August 20 2011 at 16:27
Posted Saturday, August 20 2011 at 16:27
IN SUMMARY
- Mistake: Mr Miguna made no secret that he’d take a bullet for Mr Odinga. Therein lay his fatal mistake. He confused himself with Mr Odinga
Today I want to reflect on Mr Miguna Miguna’s disgraceful exit from the public stage. It was long overdue.
But I have one piece of advice for Mr Miguna — don’t attempt to go mano-a-mano with Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Accept your sacking with humility and move on. Remember the Chinese saying — the peacock that raises its head gets shot.
A senior aide who loses his boss’s confidence must go without making a fuss. It’s unseemly to protest the sack too loudly. It betrays a problem of entitlement.
Servants in the “king’s court” don’t have public minds of their own. Most advisers toil in darkness and don’t compete with their bosses for attention. Here’s why you got tossed.
First, Mr Miguna forgot why he was useful to Mr Odinga. Presidential candidates — and Mr Odinga is one — must focus on winning elections. The candidate’s men and women must do everything to make him electable.
Candidate’s fortunes
Any aide or adviser who doesn’t understand this cardinal rule shouldn’t be around. The candidate’s electability is at the centre of everything. Nothing else matters. Aides must pour themselves body and soul into the candidate’s fortunes.
This is true the world over. President Barack Obama’s advisers know this, or they’d be gone in a nanosecond. I believe that Mr Miguna forgot that his utility would end if his actions and words became counterproductive to Mr Odinga’s election chances. That’s why he had to go.
A presidential campaign is like a choir, and the conductor is the candidate. This is especially true in Kenya where the candidate is more important than the party.
No one else in the party — or in the employ of the candidate — is allowed to compete with the candidate for attention. Some will counter that Mr Miguna was a State official, not a party hack. I say baloney.
He spent his waking and sleeping hours — at taxpayer expense — fighting ODM’s wars against PNU. Mr Miguna made no secret that he’d take a bullet for Mr Odinga. Therein lay his fatal mistake. He confused himself with Mr Odinga. That’s why he was accused of treating MPs like his subordinate underlings.
Second, there can only be one lion king. If you doubt me, go see for yourself at the Maasai Mara. Parties must speak with one authoritative voice. That’s why Eldoret North MP William Ruto must leave ODM. There can’t be two rats in one hole, as an African proverb reminds us.
His column
Often, Mr Miguna publicly expressed views contrary to Mr Odinga’s and those of senior ODM MPs and party secretariat. In his column, he would disclaim that the views were his and not ODM’s or the PM’s.
That’s nonsense in politics. Spokesmen, advisers and aides cannot contradict their bosses in public. Mr Miguna did so every day. Which begs the question — was he or Mr Odinga ODM’s ultimate voice?
My view is that Mr Miguna grew too big for his breeches. He fancied himself ODM’s “thinker” and key ideologue. To him, many of the MPs in ODM were reactionary.
He regarded the PM’s secretariat as anti-reform, lazy, and dim-witted. He would churn out many position briefs for the PM. Whether he was right or not isn’t the point.
But he reportedly never tired of reminding them of their incompetence. However, Mr Miguna thought he was “untouchable” because he had Mr Odinga’s ear. That’s naive.
The man made enemies everywhere — in ODM, among MPs, in the secretariat. That’s why they all combined forces for a take-down. Mr Odinga had to choose between Mr Miguna and ODM.
Third, Mr Odinga finally realised that Mr Miguna was a liability. The man reminds one of a child bully in a sandbox. He labours mightily to use “big” words and phrases. This makes his writing look phony. What looks to some like intellectual arrogance is academic insecurity.
Otherwise, there’s no reason to hurl insults at everybody who disagrees with you. Add the uncouth language to his dress — especially the hats — and a rather comical image emerges. He actually reminds me of the former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Zabanga.
That’s a lot of pomp. Mr Odinga must have known that such a “comical image” conjures up bad African memories. That’s no way to woo discerning voters.
Finally, Mr Odinga may have suspected that Mr Miguna was simply using his “zealotry” to serve as pretext to advance himself. Mr Odinga is in robust health. But I am sure many Luo politicians are scheming to succeed him.
Who will inherit the enviable Odinga mantle when Jaramogi’s son retires from politics? Mr Miguna may have been positioning himself.
But he’s not alone, except perhaps he was too indiscreet. Mr Odinga may have been convinced by others of this clever plot. No politician enjoys talk of succeeding him.
Swift and surgical
You can think the thought — and even plan it — but don’t expose your left flank, or be obvious about it. Otherwise, decapitation could be swift and surgical.
Those who say Mr Miguna fell because of “interfering” with the electoral commission are looking in the wrong place. Nor should they blame PNU. Mr Miguna’s fall is an internal ODM affair. He doesn’t fit in Mr Odinga’s 2012 electoral chessboard.
He’s an embarrassing distraction and a loose cannon that is more likely to repel votes than attract them. He’s a glutton for public attention, which is a no-no for an aide. He was useful as a hard worker, but had too many downsides.
I suspect the more established wing of ODM did him in. He should live to fight another day.
Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.
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