In his response to criticism that has followed the nomination of his party members to the Cabinet, ODM leader Raila Odinga has spent the past few days claiming that his party has not entered into coalition with President William Ruto’s regime.
Odinga says his party has allowed some of “our experts” to join the Cabinet but they remain firmly in the opposition as a party. With all due respect to the former Prime Minister, this does not make sense to anyone and he just needs to accept that he has been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
The cookie jar, in this context, is having a deal with Ruto in a bid to save his under-pressure administration at a time when it is largely considered abominable by a great majority of Kenyans. Truth be said, and Kurunzi challenges Odinga to deny this, he did not expect that his secret deal with Kenya Kwanza would attract this backlash from Kenyans, especially his support base which is known to be cultic in their loyalty to him.
This time around he was wrong and the tide is against him. So, upon realizing how gravely unpopular this was among his base, he has resorted to hanging on straws with the hope that the wave would change. Sadly, ti is not likely to change.
Odinga is now been branded a traitor and a betrayer, a tight corner for him to get out and this could as well spell the end of his grip on Kenya’s politics.
Having succeeded with the handshake with (retired president) Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 and managing to turn his supporters to believe in his move, Odinga thought it would be the same again to hoodwink the Gen Zs that the country’s unity was more important than sticking to principle at the expense of the country. But he was wrong.
This generation is very clear on what they want to see from the political class in terms of accountability and as a darling of “our children’s” parents misread the memo they had sent to him.
The backlash has left Odinga in disbelief and he has now started groping in the dark, making confused statements about his deal with Ruto. Even he knows that what he has been saying does not make sense and he would be the first one to dismiss anybody if they were to attempt that lame explanation so he needs to spare Kenyans his double-speak and deal with the skunk he has bought himself through this deal.
Odinga must now realize that he has lost a big chunk of his fan base and it matters less what he says or does to try to justify himself, he has now been condemned to Ruto’s corner and when the KK administration falls he would be gone with them.
Two things are clear, probably understandable, for a man who has lost the presidency four times and whose only hope of something is the state backing for his bid to become African Union Commission chair, it was very easy for Ruto to arm twist him into this deal. Deep down in his heart, Odinga knows he could have done better and that he, probably, deserves the treatment he has received from Gen Zs but he would perhaps blame himself for having declared his ambition for the AUC position.
How can he deny that Ruto blackmailed him into admitting to save his government in exchange for support when immediately he sanctioned the nomination of his lieutenants to cabinet, the foreign affairs ministry rolled out a red carpet as they announced backing his bid? It must never be forgotten that everything happened only days after he had said he would rather drop his ambition to Addis in solidarity with Gen Zs.
He should stop bothering himself with his purported calls for national dialogue because that is not going to fly with the masses as it previously happened, siding with Ruto seems to be an unforgivable sin in the eyes of these protesters and they would not take any betrayal lightly, not even from the father of Kenyan democracy. That sentiment is resoundingly clear and the lesser Odinga talks the better the chances of him getting some sympathy, after all he has struggled on behalf of Kenyans for decades.
It is hard to imagine who else Gen Zs would have installed as their President upon running Ruto out of town if not Odinga but that might be beyond Jaramogi’s son, who, believers of the Bible would suggest, may have sold his ‘birthright’ because of a plate of ugali.
And just like that, Odinga’s best chance at finally becoming President through coronation after a Gen Zs coup may have been sacrificed on the altar of his ambition to become Africa’s top diplomat.
The ODM stalwart is a master of reinventing his political life but it might be very difficult to recover from this stain that a deal with Ruto has left on his skin but we could be wrong.
And by the way, Odinga better makes sure he does not lose in Addis because if he does he would have ended his political career on such a low because he would have no chance at coming back to say anything locally.
All the best Baba!
