By ABABU NAMWAMBA ababumtumwa@yahoo.com
Posted Saturday, December 3 2011 at 20:00
Posted Saturday, December 3 2011 at 20:00
It is that celebrated Nigerian literary doyen Wole Soyinka who famously quipped that “a tiger does not proclaim its tigritude, it pounces!”
My American buddies here in Washington DC, where I am currently visiting for a little while, would simply say “one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do!”
As the dust settles on ODM grassroots elections, the Orange party could be justified in feeling somewhat “tigerish” for “pouncing” on such a humongous task at such a tricky a time as this.
Indeed, while the spectacle of the country’s leading political constellation placing itself at the risk of untimely internal implosion may paint different images for different people, there is one irrefutable constant.
Both friend and foe will admit that in confronting the challenge of potentially disruptive internal reorganisation so close to a historic general election in which the party has sky high stakes, ODM has walked the path of daring and nerve.
It certainly does no harm to the reputation of a vivacious young party that loves to set the pace and tread where none dares set foot. And there are lessons galore here.
For the party that prides itself on being the promise of maisha bora for every Kenyan across the length and breadth of the republic, there is a two-sided lesson.
I agree with the ancient wisdom that no people have ever developed as a result of focusing on their weaknesses, so let me start with the positives.
ODM must have been supremely emboldened by the enthusiasm that characterised the elections in most parts of the country.
The tension, the energy displayed and the passion with which party leadership positions were contested, coupled with the fact that the party recorded a presence in all of the country’s 47 counties, not only affirmed the party’s bragging rights as the country’s most popular party, it must also have gladdened party faithful that ODM remains a solid movement with a long, illustrious future.
This, of course, has to be continuously harnessed, nurtured and jealously guarded.
The flip side
On the flip side, the elections exposed some worrying signals that the party would be well advised to address with expedition.
There was a logistical nightmare in several places, with delays in delivery of poll materials and difficulties posed by some elections officials not enjoying the trust of all contenders.
Though isolated and ultimately contained, the incidents of violence sent a chilling message that there are some who still believe one can have their way by intimidation and hurting others.
This, given the ugly recent past, is quite insane, to say the least. But the party leadership and the country’s security forces must be commended for responding admirably to nip the threat in the bud.
There were also deliberate attempts by a few people to subvert the democratic process.
The party has to continue inculcating in its faithful that the democratic process is sacrosanct, and the outcome of a free and fair contest must be respected. Anyone dissatisfied has a constitutional route for redress.
All these notwithstanding, though, ODM can take comfort in the fact that the storm may just be over as sun beckons on the horizon.
Things may not get any worse than they have been for the last couple of years for the party.
The challenge for ODM now is to consolidate the gains and amplify all strengths, while keeping hyper vigilant against any risks.
This will include what the author of 48 Laws of Power, Robert Green, calls “conserving your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point”.
Green contends that you gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper than by flitting from one shallow mine to another. “Intensity defeats extensity every time,” he says.
Sure to repentCarl Von Clausewitz affirms this when he says, “There is no higher and simpler law of strategy than that of keeping one’s forces concentrated ...”
Johan Goethe concurs: “Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it is sure to repent of every ill-judged outlay”.
As does Baltasar Gracian: “Prize intensity more than extensity. Perfection resides in quality, not quantity.
Extent alone never rises above mediocrity, and it is the misfortune of men with wide general interests that while they would like to have their finger in every pie, they have one on none. Intensity gives eminence, and rises to the heroic, in matters sublime”.
The ODM elections have lessons for other political parties, too, and indeed for the whole county.
I acknowledge that so far Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford-Kenya and Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya long completed their internal polls.
But as other parties prepare to walk this path, and as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission prepares for the 2012 General Election, all must be aware of the threat that continues to be posed by violence and desire by some to subvert the course of democracy.
Yet to bite the bullet we all must as we walk the talk of a new dawn for our Motherland.
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