Once again I dare step on the tail of a tiger as I did before when I disqualified Uhuru Kenyatta for president. For many years Raila, I and others struggled to liberate this country from Kanu one-party dictatorship, driven by the dream of Kenya as a country of freedom, economic development, democracy and equality among people of all sexes, colors, ethnicities and classes. To fulfill this dream we sought social democratic leadership that Raila seemed to embody. But does he?
In the absence of a better presidential candidate, I may vote for Raila. But while other presidential candidates are worse, Raila is no political angel. Recently Raila said anybody who called for improvement of the new constitution before voting for it during the referendum, should get no job or elective post because they will sabotage the mother law.
However Raila’s call is contrary to democracy which is the foundation of the constitution and spirit of the referendum that allowed some people to say yes and others no to validate and own the new law. Without a choice between acceptance and rejection, the constitution could never belong to the people. In case Raila has forgotten or does not know, referendum meant if yes won, this victory belonged to all Kenyans. Equally, if the no won, it meant Kenyans had collectively and democratically rejected the new law.
As a member of parliament for a long time, Raila knows or ought to know that when a bill of law is debated in parliament, some will say yes to it and others no. Without these two positions, the country can’t be democratic. But for this seemingly contradictory system to function, after a bill is accepted by the majority, the law no longer has supporters or opponents. It belongs to all. By passing a bill through a process of support and opposition, people enact the best possible law for themselves. Equally when a law is turned down through the same process, rejection is attributed not just to parliament but whole country.
Subsequently, in all democracies, once a law is supported, opposed and passed, no one says it should benefit supporters and punish opponents. Raila’s logic saying opponents of the constitution should not benefit from it is equivalent to saying when Raila is elected president, his government will reward supporters and withhold services and development from voters who said no to him.
Although Raila fought for change for a long time, it looks like he was fighting for power rather than equality and democratic rights for all Kenyans. It now looks clear that one may fight for change and not democracy. Another sign that Raila may be a dictator are some pictures where people kneel before him. While these pictures were common in Moi’s time, they are completely unacceptable today. And instead of Raila’s ODM functioning as a paragon of democracy, when Minister Kajwang’ says ODM is Raila and Raila ODM, it epitomizes political sycophancy and one-man ethnic dictatorship.
There is an English saying to the effect that if you show me a person’s friends, I will tell you the nature of the man. Looking at persons who are in Raila’s company – Charles Njonjo, Stanley Githunguri, Musalia Mudavadi, William Ole Ntimama and others, you will tell what man Raila has become. A rabbit that was chased by hounds yesterday has today become a hound. And as Raila has changed classes, he has also changed ideology from that of championing interests of the poor, to that of protecting his and own class interests.
Worse, Raila has also embraced the ideology of negative ethnicity. If you look at Raila’s office you will not see a paragon of nationalism but what community he belongs to. If you also look at Luo Nyanza that used to champion nationalist politics under Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, it is today a bastion of Luo chauvinism. And Raila still carries the mark of organizing 41 communities against 1 during the last elections.
And though Raila has been given a chance of championing the fight against corruption, his immense wealth does not look like proof of his incorruptibility. To get wealth and power, Raila even seems ready to humiliate himself to get “Raila tosha” from Kibaki.
Koigi wa Wamwere, chair of Chama cha Mwananchi and author of Towards Genocide In Kenya: The Curse of Negative Ethnicity.
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