Sunday, June 23, 2013

SIASA: Political Leaders Beyong The Mythical: The Luo Beyond Raila

Saturday, June 22, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY KENNETH OKECH
The most eminent African of the soil and blood, Nelson Mandela, is hospitalised somewhere in the city of Pretoria. In life, he has grown into a mythical figure with a larger than life personality that has generated a radiance which charges the imaginations of many living souls throughout the globe.
Throughout the cities and villages in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), Madiba is omnipresent; his images, statues and institutions and roads named after him dot the landscape.
While the current state of politics in RSA may not amuse him; from increased runaway systemic corruption to breakdown in the social welfare system and moral fibre, to an economy that is increasingly ‘naturally selecting’ out the blacks, Madiba is still an inspiration and the moral father of South Africa.
As he battles a recurring lung infection and breathing difficulties, the larger than life spell that Madiba cast in South Africa and indeed the whole world has been a subject of many commentaries in the past few weeks.
The mortality of Madiba had never been a subject of debate until one of his former colleagues at Robben islands sensationally asked Madiba’s family to ‘let him go…and be accepted by his god.’
In the same breath, Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu also advised South Africans to accept Madiba’s inevitable mortality and to begin to look elsewhere for inspiration.
Madiba has a chequered history of struggle for a democratic and non-racial South Africa, and has a larger than life image that is in so many ways comparable to Raila Odinga’s own history and image.
With an unrivalled stranglehold of the Luo, Odinga has undeniably been the fulcrum of Kenyan politics for close to two decades. His name has radiated as much passionate hate as love across the political landscape of Kenya thereby earning him the trophy of the most polarising figure.
This love and hate has come with political payoffs with varying effects on individual political careers depending on the side of the divide one chooses to stand.
For the Luo, Raila’s word is messianic; treated with so much reverence and a credulous belief that has baffled many overtime. The people look up to him for political leadership and direction.
Three things explain his success with the Luo: 1) traditionally the Luo view their leaders as Godsend and therefore must never be challenged whatsoever; 2) a mindset of subjugation amongst the Luos and negative targeting by successive governments since independence following mysterious deaths of prominent members of the Luo community ; and 3) his personality trait has resonated with the genes and upbringing of the Luo people who believe that the nature is so cruel that only ‘pushy’ and rebellious personalities can succeed in life.
As such Raila comfortably rose to the enviable pole position of the undisputed Luo kingpin. His word is law; he is the master strategist and executor of the strategies on behalf of the Luo.
He entrenched himself through calculated populism and propaganda meant to create a mystery around his person after his jail term and his reported role in the 1982 coup.
Through him, the Luo are united; at least politically and have been able to ‘stamp their authority’ on the highly ethnocentric Kenyan political geography in a manner that would not be expected of a community which ranks fourth in the census reports.
Raila’s political constituency, however, transcends the Luo boundary. He is the only politician to have garnered substantial support across all ethnicities and regions in the last two election cycles.
His democratic credentials are a moral capital that inspires confidence in so many. Unfortunately, moral capital alone is not sufficient for one to capture presidency through popular vote. The 2013 elections may have been proved that in the Kenyan political culture, morality is a fallacy!
Politics is fluid and the issues that dominate political debates and shape the outcome of the vote may change in a single electoral cycle. There may also be a shift in the tact that may be useful in delivering victory though changes in tact mostly occur with a generational change.
In the words of Friedrich Engels, each historic epoch has a dominant idea which captures the imagination of many. As generations change, a new idea emerges and dominates for some time before it also eventually fades as a newer one takes over.
Raila Odinga’s rebellious and confrontational brand of politics was in vogue and thrived in an environment of unchecked totalitarian rule in Kenya under one party and the subsequent transition to multiparty democracy.
In this era, the society solely relied on its brave sons and daughters for leadership and liberation from the repressive state. Kenya has made commendable strides in instituting democracy, rule of law and checks on the executive power.
With the new constitution and the presence of a robust civil society, Kenya is undeniably far much better than what it was in 1980s and 1990s. The bulk of the voters are young people who never lived nor experienced single party oppression or have never completely comprehended the origin of the inequalities in the Kenyan society nor appreciated that they were occasioned by unfair distribution of public resources and unjustifiable exercise of state authority.
This young generation of voters is preoccupied with bread and butter issues; in this category education, jobs, wealth creation and healthcare. Their entertainment preferences like music and theatre are at variance with what the generation of Raila understands as acceptable entertainment.
In a nutshell, content of campaign agenda has shifted from the ‘hardcore, struggle for liberalisation of the political space to ‘softer’ issues and the soft power plays an important role in campaign communication.
In view of the foregoing, the relevance of the Luo nation within the Kenyan tribalised political landscape is hinged upon the community’s embrace for a younger leadership to succeed Raila Odinga.
A younger leadership is preferable for a sustained vibrancy of the Luo for a majority of the voting population will definitely identify with it as an embodiment of their aspirations.
It has become somewhat the norm not to talk about such tribal successions, but this morbid of talking about or even contemplating the succession at the helm of the Luo political hierarchy may be the fodder for political ruin of the Luo and their relegation to political irrelevance in Kenya.
Given the realities of a changing demography, nurturing a younger political talent is what the Luo need to revamp the community’s realistic chances at capturing Presidency in the wake of Raila’s fading political sparkle.
Truth is, Raila Odinga’s career seems not to have been destined to climax at statehouse, but looks headed for an anti-climax exit after accomplishing the mission for his generation which was to deliver a new constitution which would cushion the people against the excesses of the executive and for the Luo, a more united community as never before!
As a starting point, the Luo need to look no further than a group of young men with promising political acumen, good education, urbane and are increasingly becoming economically stable.
In this regard, persons like Hon. Ken Obura, Hon. Tom Kajwang, Mark Nyamita and Charles Owino need a special mention. The sad reality is there will never be another Raila Odinga or no person may emerge to match his political acumen to execute as much indelible roles as he has played in Kenyan politics, but may be that is what the Luo nation needs so as to have one of their own as the President of Kenya. Just like South Africans need to think beyond Madiba, so is the Luo nation of Kenya.

Kenneth Okech is a Political Researcher and Consultant with Socrates Strategic Research and Consulting Limited.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-125344/political-leaders-beyond-mythical-luo-beyond-raila#sthash.jxCZZnCH.dpuf

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