RAILA ODINGA ? NO…… WHY RAILA ODINGA WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT
RAILA ODINGA ?
NO……
Raila Odinga ran for the presidency three times but
failed to clinch the seat in 1997, 2007 and 2013. He is closely associated with
the opposition politics. His supporters label him as the ‘best’ president that
Kenya never had. They praise him for his contribution to the second
liberation in Kenya. Others claim he is the ‘father’ of multi-party democracy
in Kenya.
Many attribute his inability to clinch the
presidency to bad karma despite him being very popular. Raila Odinga himself
feels that the establishment rigged him out in the 2007 and 2013 general
election. Many of his supporters share the same feeling. This
narrative has made him and his followers bitter and dissatisfied.
Raila Odinga rejected the results for the two
general elections. The aftermath of the 2007 general elections was a bloody
violence with many lives lost and property destroyed. Raila referred to the
Supreme Court as koti bandia (fake court) in 2013 after the
court rejected his presidential petition.
WHY RAILA ODINGA WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT
It is not bad karma Raila Odinga has never and
probably never will be president. He is to blame for many of his own political
misfortunes. He is oblivious to these mistakes and does not make any
effort to correct them. Raila turns a blind eye and shifts the blame to
others. This has cost him dearly.
RAILA ODINGA IS UNTRUSTWORTHY
Many of his past comrades refer to him as an
untrustworthy person. He has exploited and dumped many allies and politicians.
A good example is the current Deputy President William Ruto. Another example is
his former political advisor Miguna Miguna.
Ruto was a key ODM official when ODM and PNU formed
the Coalition Government in April 2008. Nevertheless, he felt politically
shortchanged alongside his allies with the deal ODM signed with PNU. When he
tried to complain, Raila’s influence saw him shifted from the powerful
Agriculture Ministry. Eventually, Kibaki fired him after consulting with the
then Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
When the ICC cases began, many of Ruto’s supporters
felt that he did not deserve to be at The Hague. They said that Raila used him
as a scapegoat. The narrative that Raila took Ruto to Hague
made him to lose the support of Ruto’s political base entirely.
His co-principals in CORD also feel that he is
betraying them by refusing to endorse their candidacy for the presidency as
agreed in 2013. He has already declared he will not step down for anyone.
HE LOVES SYCOPHANCY
Raila Odinga loves sycophancy. He loves working
with people who worship him. He does not take competition kindly and hates
criticism at all costs. When you try to challenge him, his army of sycophants
tries to silence you. He kicks you out of his camp once he realizes that you
have outlived your usefulness. This hero worship has made him think that he is
a political demigod. He thinks he is indispensable to Kenyan politics.
HE SEES KENYANS AS MEAN INGRATES
Raila Odinga also thinks that Kenyans owe him a
favour for his role in the second liberation. He thinks he did Kenyans a big
favour. Thus, he desperately wants Kenyans to reward him. He thinks Kenyans can
only repay this ‘favour’ by giving him the presidency. He sees it as a (nipe
nikupe).
Thus, he might possibly see Kenyans as mean
ingrates for failing to grant him his wish. He might be bitter and resentful
for this. Yet, we cannot attribute the democratic rights we enjoy right now to
him alone. There are many others influential to the second liberation. For
example, Kenneth Matiba, Timothy Njoya, Charles Kipsang arap Muge, Koigi wa
Wamwere, Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki and his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
RAILA IS A TURNCOAT REVOLUTIONARY
Unlike the other freedom fighters who stuck to the
course, Raila Odinga betrayed the course. He joined the oppressive Moi regime
that he had fought tooth and nail before. The same government had detained him
without trial for six years.
Moi promoted him to his cabinet as the Minister for
Energy after his NDP party agreed to work with KANU. This merger followed his
unsuccessful bid for the presidency in the 1997 general elections.
HIS SOURCE OF WEALTH IS OBSCURE
With his taste of power, he became the same enemy
he was ostensibly fighting before. All of a sudden, he began to accumulate a
lot of wealth using his influence as the energy minister. He became an
overnight big business magnate in the oil and petroleum industry.
Soon after, he acquired the Kisumu Molasses Plant.
He has maintained that his family acquired the plant legally without political
influence. However, it remains suspect why this happened just after Raila
Odinga became Moi’s ally only for Moi to promote him to the cabinet.
He became a billionaire within a decade of enjoying
political power. Yet, he keeps the source of his wealth obscure, even in his
own biography.
HE IS POWER HUNGRY
He is well-known as a key mastermind of the botched
1982 coup that aimed to topple the Moi regime. The coup left many civilians
dead and property destroyed.
He joined KANU thinking Moi would declare him the
presidential candidate for KANU for the 2002 general elections. Moi and KANU
overlooked him and instead chose Uhuru Kenyatta. He defected in protest and
formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). LDP later merged with other
political parties to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
He had struck a deal with Kibaki to make him Prime
Minister, but Kibaki did not honour the deal. He left the government in protest
and formed the opposition. In 2008, his advisors like Miguna Miguna
advised him to opt for fresh elections after the disputed December polls.
They were sure he would win. However, he took the shortcut and opted for the
‘nusu mkate’ coalition government. We all know what happened after that.
HE IS VINDICTIVE AND WILL BECOME A DICTATOR
Raila Odinga shows a strong desire for
revenge. He does not think twice about the influence of his actions on
others. People fear he will extend this vindictive nature to the
presidency. He will become dictatorial and authoritarian, disregarding the
rule of law at every turn.
His use and dump policy will see many who question
his authority face persecution. In addition, many think that he will follow in
the footsteps of Moi by economically sabotaging certain ethnic
communities.
HE CANNOT CONTROL HIS ROWDY SUPPORTERS
A certain group of his supporters is violent and
rowdy. He has shown inability to control them. This makes people paranoid about
his leadership.
HE DISLIKES YOUNG PEOPLE
He likes the old guards who have been with him
since the beginning and distastes youthful leadership. His unseen hand showed
itself in the onslaught against the ‘young Turks’ who tried to take over the
leadership of ODM party. MPs Ababu Namwamba and Ken Obura are among the major victims
of this onslaught.
He once compared Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura to a lizard that craved for
recognition and climbed a tree hoping that people would see it. This was after
Obura expressed his interest in vying for the ODM party’s post of Secretary
General.
This dislike for youth leadership has taken away
the vibrancy in his party and style of politics. It contributed to his loss in
2013 in a major way. The same worked in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta and William
Ruto. He relies on the old ways of doing things and the old guard to advise him
and run his political campaigns.
His indirect influence saw the infamous ‘men in
black’ disrupt ODM elections in 2014. He even admitted that the men
dressed in black were part of ODM security.
RAILA ODINGA PROMOTES TRIBAL POLITICS
He describes himself as a reformist and a
social democrat. However, that is just a facade he uses to disguise his real
self. He is a big proponent of tribal politics and the sole political demigod
of the Luo community.
If he fails to correct these mistakes, it will cost
him the presidency for the fourth time in 2017. He cannot expect to do things
the same way and expect different results.
DEAR READER
NOTE: ABOVE ARE MY OPINION ORIENTED REASONS BASED ON RAILA ODINGA’S
PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION.
WORDS AND OPINIONS HERE ARE PERSONALLY FETCHED AND
DO NOT IN ANY WAY UNDERMINE ONE’S POLITICAL RIGHTS AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS ALLANTECH254 POLITICAL BLOGSPOT
OPINION.
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