Photo/FILE Prime Minister Raila Odinga addresses residents in Murang’a East District, central Kenya on June 14, 2009.
By JULIUS SIGEI (jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com)
Posted Friday, November 11 2011 at 22:30
Posted Friday, November 11 2011 at 22:30
Central Kenya’s rich elite gravitation towards Prime Minister Raila Odinga in his quest for the presidency is causing ripples in a region where his nemesis, at least according to the latest opinion polls, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta comes from.
University of Nairobi Chancellor and President Kibaki’s confidant, Dr Joe Wanjui, Kiambaa MP Stanley Githunguri, businessman Peter Kuguru and former Attorney General Charles Njonjo are all said to be warming up to Mr Odinga.
It is intriguing given the love-hate relationship between the region’s elite and the Odinga family, which dates back to the 1960s.
Others are Royal Media Group chairman S.K. Macharia and businessman James Koome.
Played key role
While founding Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga played a key role in securing Jomo Kenyatta’s presidency by turning down an offer to become prime minister and instead pushed for his release, they soon fell out after independence.
Jaramogi would remain in the political cold until 1992 when he returned to Parliament after the reintroduction of multi-party politics.
History repeated itself in 2002 when the younger Odinga declared ‘Kibaki Tosha’, effectively handing the presidency to then opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki.
But as had happened 40 years earlier, Mr Kibaki soon differed with Mr Odinga and, as they say, the rest is history.
While former Kiambaa MP Njenga Karume has not categorically voiced support for Mr Odinga, his statement that he could “vote for anyone for President” has been interpreted in some quarters as warming up to a candidate from outside Central Kenya.
This is especially so because Mr Karume has been closely identified with Mr Kenyatta, the man he dumped Kibaki for in 2002.
Both would later throw their lot with the President in 2007. But perhaps Dr Wanjui’s statement was the more dramatic and intriguing given his closeness to the President.
“I have been President Kibaki’s supporter and friend for many years. I am still his friend and supporter. But after looking around and searching far and wide, the only person capable of consolidating the leadership and development Kibaki has established is Raila Odinga,” he is reported to have said at the PM’s home in Karen.
Former Subukia MP Koigi wa Wamwere said by supporting the PM, the Central elite hoped to kill two birds with one stone.
“They want to be with the winning team so that their massive wealth does not come into any danger and at the same time pay the debt of the injustices meted out to both Mr Odinga and his father,” Mr Wamwere said.
The elite reckoned Kenyans may not elect another Kikuyu and wanted a safe bet, he said. “Raila fits the bill as a property owner himself. They are not doing it out of any high ideal, but because of self-interest.
The best candidate for them is the one who wins,” Mr Wamwere said. Senior counsel Paul Muite agrees.
“Business people the world over are concerned more with the preservation of their wealth than with ideology, the community or the country.
And as to whether they are right or wrong in their gamble is a subject for another day,” said Mr Muite, who also wants to be president.
But he dismissed the idea that the Kikuyu owed Mr Odinga a favour, insisting the presidency was “not about individuals or communities.”
“We fought for a robust democracy that must allow any individual to aspire to any office, including the presidency.
“When prices of goods go up, they do so for everybody irrespective of ethnic origin. If Kenyans do not want another Kikuyu, they will say so at the ballot,” he said.
Dismissing the elders’ ability to sway the Central vote in favour of Mr Odinga, Sports assistant minister Kabando wa Kabando said the election would not be determined by older men but by the youth.
His sentiments were echoed by Naivasha MP John Mututho who said the rich were not the sole opinion shapers.“Reincarnation of the past won’t rhyme with the present. The politics of Kenya is not about personal wealth and private clubs or an alumnus of expired regimes,” Mr Kabando said.
“Opinion shapers can be that boda boda chairman or the local councillor. In Nairobi, the Kikuyu opinion leaders are Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu and his Starehe counterpart Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, not the super rich,” he said.
He added that the business elite were “only thronging to Mr Odinga for business connections”.
Kirinyaga Central MP Joseph Gitari supported this, saying, Mr Kenyatta had taken a tough line on businessmen who were given government land and were reselling it to the State at exorbitant prices for resettlement of IDPs.
“They are trying to blackmail the DPM, but he will not succumb because he is not threatened politically,” Mr Gitari said. But Mr Wamwere said the elders’ move would bear fruit if Mr Kenyatta were to drop out of the race.
“If Uhuru, for one reason or another does not vie, the elders’ decision will divide the community in the middle, with his camp having a slight edge,” he said.
The ICC has indicated that Mr Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto would not be barred from contesting the presidency even if their cases were confirmed.
Crowded field
Mr Odinga’s attempt to make inroads into Central will also be compounded by the recent entry of the Internal Security Minister, Prof George Saitoti, who is touted as a fallback candidate for the group coalescing around Mr Kenyatta.
Gichugu MP Martha Karua and Planning assistant minister Peter Kenneth (Gatanga) are the other presidential candidates from the region.
United States International University journalism lecturer Isaiah Cherutich says Mr Odinga’s chances will depend on who the G7 alliance fronts as their flag-bearer.
“If it is Mr Kenyatta, it will be difficult given the antipathy for Raila created by the ICC and the accompanying political propaganda. It also depends on how well he assures the community of its well-being in concrete terms,” he said.
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