How about Muite or Mutula for Raila’s running mate?

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By MAKAU MUTUA
Posted  Saturday, November 10  2012 at  17:18

IN SUMMARY

• I have argued in this column that Gichugu MP Martha Karua, Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed, and Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth were very plausible ODM VP candidates. I still think so.
• Mr Muite, as Kenyans know, has a thousand lives. No regime has been able to either silence or completely destroy him.
• Mutula Kilonzo, the Kanu hawk-turned-reformer is an outspoken proponent of the International Criminal Court, was moved to a docket he knows little about – Education.
• The man is a brilliant legal mind, as Kenyans know.

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Let’s call a spade what it is – PM Raila Odinga is the presumptive ODM flagbearer.

Which begs the question – who will be his running mate? Let me tell you something. The choice for an ODM VP nominee will be more like a marathon, not a sprint.

I know Mr Odinga wants to be the next head of state. But he can’t – and shouldn’t – sacrifice core principles to get there. He needs to get there with integrity to govern with credibility.

That’s why he shouldn’t choose as his running mate a shady character. No one – even the Pope – is perfect. We are all fallible.

But Mr Odinga’s choice for VP must be a proven reformer. Who’s out there?

Look East

I’ve said before that Mr Odinga should look “east” to balance his ticket. I have argued in this column that Gichugu MP Martha Karua, Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed, and Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth were very plausible ODM VP candidates. I still think so.

By the way, so would Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara. He’s an “easterner” with reformist heft. He’s partially responsible for the rights Kenyans enjoy today.

He took the cudgel to the Moi-Kanu dictatorship when others wouldn’t. Mr Imanyara has credibly re-established himself as a reformist crusader.

His forceful repudiation of the Gema cabal is an act of nation building. That’s why I think Mr Odinga should consider him. He deserves a serious look.

But there are two candidates who should definitely be in Mr Odinga’s short – very short – list. The first is former Kabete MP and Safina leader Paul Muite.

Mr Muite, as Kenyans know, has a thousand lives. No regime has been able to either silence or completely destroy him.

He has one of the most complete reformist resumes the country has ever known. He has a lion’s heart – he’s the person you want on your side as you go to war.

Mr Muite will scare the living daylights out of the enemy by his cold – and steely stare. But that stare is not mean or malicious – just determined to get the job done. Don’t dare pick a fight with him.

Mr Muite will be vetted. The only incident that I think has the potential to raise questions involves Goldenberg. Goldenberg architect Kamlesh Pattni named Mr Muite as one of the many people whose silence he bought.

Mr Muite has forcefully denied those allegations. For the record, Mr Muite and the LSK sought the prosecution of the Goldenberg culprits.

He, together with the Kenya Human Rights Commission, has singlehandedly and doggedly pursued the case of reparations for the Mau Mau from the British Government.

He has relentlessly fought against corruption and repression even when others from Central Kenya rabidly supported the Kibaki regime.

As a true Kenyan, he’s openly rejected GEMA. He walks with the poor and the marginalised. There would be poetic justice if Mr Odinga were to pick Mr Muite as running mate.

Mr Muite was Ford-Kenya’s vice-president under the opposition doyen Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the late PM’s father. Mr Muite would’ve succeeded Mr Odinga at the helm of Ford-Kenya had the party not been scattered to the four winds by tribal chauvinism.

The youthful Mr Muite was the face of the Young Turks to the elderly Mr Odinga. He represented the hope and the future of democracy and the opposition movement.

History would come full circle were PM Odinga to choose Mr Muite as his deputy. I know this much – Mr Odinga and Mr Muite would make a formidable reformist duo at State House.

Brilliant legal mind

This brings me to former Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, the Kanu hawk-turned-reformer. Mr Kilonzo, an outspoken proponent of the International Criminal Court, was moved to a docket he knows little about – Education.

The man is a brilliant legal mind, as Kenyans know. That a legal greenhorn in Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa was given Mr Kilonzo’s sensitive Justice docket spoke volumes.

Mr Wamalwa is a consort of the Ocampo Four and their partner in the G7 Alliance. Mr Kilonzo took no prisoners – he repeatedly said that two of the Ocampo Four – Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William – couldn’t run for the presidency because of the charges for crimes against humanity.

There’s more. Mr Kilonzo broke ranks with his PNU coalition on key issues. He opposed VP Kalonzo Musyoka’s “shuttle diplomacy” to the UN and AU to stop The Hague trials of the Ocampo Six.

He denounced the government’s admissibility challenges at the ICC. He openly embraced the IDPs and their plight and mocked the government for supporting the Ocampo Six.

That’s why he became the conscience of the nation within the government. Mr Kilonzo openly defied his boss in the Wiper Democratic Movement, VP Musyoka.

I watched him and concluded that he had decided to “head to Damascus”. Former President Moi’s lawyer – and a loud anti-reformer – Mr Kilonzo convinced me that he had truly seen the light. Let’s not deny redemption.

As a former regime insider, and a converted soul, Mr Kilonzo could be a very interesting deputy to Mr Odinga. He knows where the bodies are buried. He could be a “constructive bridge” between the old order and the new order in the transition.

He could become the catalyst for “converting” anti-reform former regime elements. No one knows you better than your former friend. Mr Muite, the senior counsel, would bring different strengths to Mr Odinga’s table.

He’s not from the rich Kikuyu elite. That’s part of why they don’t like him. But the poor identify with him.

Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.