Why Raila allies are bane to his State House bid

By JUMA KWAYERA

Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s friends either do not share his ideological inclination or simply lack the knack to keep at bay destructive advisors who pop up at the most unwelcome hour and place.

What supporters of the premier and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi jokingly described as a ‘friendly match’ when the two declared interest in the Orange party oresidential ticket has turned out to be a vicious spectacle.

The latest in a string of gaffes in Raila’s quest for presidency is last Monday defence by Lands Minister James Orengo of the PM’s entitlement to ODM presidential ticket by virtue of being party leader.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga meets Maasai ODM delegates last month. He is in the race for party presidential ticket. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

The minister ‘clarified’ what his interpretation of the party’s constitution a day after the damage had been done.

The comments by Orengo, arguably one of Kenya’s renowned lawyers and resolute political reform agents in years gone by, opened up the Orange party to further scrutiny over internal democracy.

Given past frosty relations between the minister and the Prime Minister, it is possible Orengo, who is neither a member of the National Executive Council nor the legal team of the party that met on Monday, deliberately drew the attention of the meeting to unratified provision that was sneaked into the party constitution to block renegade Rift Valley MPs from ousting Raila from the premiership.

Error-prone allies

Whatever the case, the standoff over the mode of presidential primaries has shifted political discourse from the spectacular contest between the premier and the DPM to the latter’s error-prone friends or advisors, who through imperviousness to criticism have successfully cast Raila as averse to competitive politics.

Orengo’s comments cast Raila as impervious to democracy, transparency and accountability by invoking an article that was irregularly inserted into the Constitution.

This is hardly new against the backdrop of the Lands ministers’ opinion of his party boss at meeting with former US Ambassador Michael Rannebrger.

In dispatches to his Government, Ranneberger in reference to a meeting with Orengo, wrote: "After I reviewed the state of play along lines similar to those I employed with Francis Muthaura (former Head of Civil Service), Orengo admitted frustration about the slow movement on the reform agenda.

According to Ranneberger, "Prime Minister Odinga must bear substantial responsibility for this. Orengo made clear his view that Kibaki and his people do not favour far-reaching reforms, but at the same time, he said, Odinga has not been forthright in driving implementation of the reform agenda."

Bold moves

In remarks specifically targeting the PM, the former envoy reported further: "Odinga has done nothing to reorganise his office to make it more effective; Odinga is a poor manager who does not follow up; and he is primarily focused on preparing for his presidential run in 2012. Odinga has avoided bold moves because he is hostage to his difficult political constituency. In essence, Orengo concluded, Odinga wants to maintain support from the diverse elements of ODM and that means he has pulled his punches on issues like the special tribunal."

The remarks raise fundamental questions about the sincerity of the PM’s supporters.

The comments, similar to those already uttered by other zealots are a rehash of the controversy that precipitated the acrimonious exit of PM’s former advisor on coalition affairs Miguna Miguna. Miguna, now a fierce critic of his former boss, had before defended him as he would a deity.

When the going was good and the presidency seemed a possibility, Miguna at some stage piled pressure on Raila to be sworn in as President, as the country descended into chaos following the disputed 2007 presidential poll.

Orengo’s invocation of the controversial provision has deepened the row further that has driven a wedge between Raila and Mudavadi. While the PM roots for a national delegates conference to nominate the party’s presidential candidate, Mudavadi wants a devolved mode at county level that would give more delegates a chance to take part.

The DPM deems voting at county level is less prone to bribery – the bane of Kenyan politics – and more cost-effective.

After Mudavadi called the bluff over threats to step down for the PM or risk being shunned by voters in Nyanza, Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ and Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba went further to demand that the Deputy Prime Minister quits.

The reaction to the challenge on Raila’s presumed dominance in ODM was the latest after other ODM MPs – Joint Chief Whip and Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo, Gwasi MP John Mbadi, Bondo MP Oburu Odinga, Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o and Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ among others, termed Mudavadi a betrayer for taking on Raila in party presidential primaries.

Intriguingly, the narratives of the PM’s friends who fall out with him are similar.

They accuse the PM of being surrounded by allies who are indebted to him, and who are intolerant. Of interest, despite the criticism, the Prime Minister has done little to extricate himself from the clutch of friends.

Straight into box

In the ensuing storm that is now hurting the Orange party, the PM has unnecessarily walked into a box. His former Chief of Protocol Tony Gachoka says miscalculations are typical of the premier’s cronies – often intolerant, arrogant and paranoid in their conduct.

Gachoka says Raila’s enemies are ironically his friends who routinely give bad advice on relations with other communities.

"The Prime Minister has cast himself as fishers of men that has elevated sycophancy to new levels. People indebted act with trepidation for fear of losing privileges they enjoy," says Gachoka.

It has long been perceived some of the brickbats the PM’s close friends hurl at his rivals are done with his blessings.

Obama’s pastor

Else, he should have borrowed leaf from US President Barack Obama, who dispensed with his pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ, when the clergyman’s ‘inflammatory rhetoric’ was deemed risky to Obama’s charge at the presidency in 2008.

In South Africa, governing African National Congress last week dispensed with youth leader Julius Malema for comments that the party was promoting reverse apartheid – against the whites.