Many Kenyans have reacted with consternation to the comments by Raila Odinga on the judiciary. They are shell shocked to imagine that the self-proclaimed high prince of reform and democracy would go to an extent of branding our courts as ‘bandia’ or fake courts. I was not surprised. Not at all. For a long time, some of us who have had the opportunity to work with Raila Odinga since the clamour for multi-partyism have been warning this country that this man appears good from far but he is actually far from good.
We have been accused of being obsessed with Raila, of suffering from Raila-Phobia, of being driven by hate for Raila. Luckily the true Raila is now standing up in the eyes of Kenya and the world. The same Raila who refused to go to court in 2008 claiming that the courts were not free is now branding our courts as fake despite all the judicial reforms undertaken in the last four years. The same man who claimed that Kivuitu stole his victory is now intimidating Isaak Hassan’s Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission that was created as a result of a rigorous, inclusive and consultative process as part of our reform package. Truly all can see that it is not true that we hate Raila Odinga. We just love Kenya and care for her future. It is succinctly clear that the more Kenya changes, the more Raila Odinga remains the same.
To many Kenyans, the onslaught against the judiciary and IEBC by the Prime Minister may appear like isolated cases. That is far from the truth. If you go back to history, you will realize that Raila survives on crisis. In 2002, his politics was given a fresh lease of life by the fiasco he created at Kasarani. In 2003, he created a crisis through the alleged MOU with Kibaki to galvanize the country using the 41-againist-1 ideology, which then propelled him to another crisis—the post election crisis of 2007-2008. That crisis then gifted him with the Prime Minister’s slot in the grand coalition government. Recently, the Prime Minister has been trying to create a new crisis in vain. The recent attacks on President Kibaki over the appointments to the National Police Service Commission, the mountain he has created out of the mole hill that is the date of elections are part of this well choreographed plan to rejuvenate his ill fated third attempt at the Presidency.
Perhaps Raila’s unbridled, raw ambition is getting the better of him. In his quest to create a new crisis that will propel him to State House, he is making unbelievably simplistic blunders. If he were in a game of tennis, he would lose a whole set from unforced errors only. Just when his propaganda team was struggling to convince the country, against national and now international consensus, that he has nothing to do with the trial of Kenyans at the International Criminal Court, the man displays his true colours by asking for the suspects to be arrested. By doing so, he becomes the first person to publicly call for arrest warrants, something even the cantankerous Ocampo has not done. Unfortunately for him, none of these seeds of crisis has germinated. Like the ones that Jesus talked about in the Bible, Raila’s seeds of crisis are all falling on rocks, an amazing pointer of how Kenyans have grown wiser. Truly, there is a God and he looks after this country
Perhaps it is about time that Raila Odinga embarks on a personal journey towards repentance and absolution. He can do so now before his list of victims grows any longer. He can start by apologizing to Mwai Kibaki, the man who is supposed to be partner but by all means is a victim of Raila’s machinations. I propose that he then moves to Musalia Mudavadi, the man whose blessings he is trying to steal using Bibilical Jacob’s trickster strategies on Esau. Daniel Arap Moi, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Miguna Miguna and the people of Kenya would also be worthy of Raila’s remorse and apologies. Unfortunately, I do not expect him to do so soon. What I expect him to do is make more blunders and deny with the same breath. If I were to donate a shirt to him, I would inscribe it with the words ‘I deny’. If I was to dedicate to him a song, undoubtedly it would be Shaggy’s ‘It wasn’t me’. That’s Raila, the man.
The writer is the spokesman of the Party for National Unity (PNU). The views expressed herein are his own
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