The quashing of the BBI reggae by the Court of Appeal has heightened anxiety and expectations. It is important to ponder the words of Senior Counsel John Khaminwa who said, “Nobody has won, the Constitution of Kenya has won”.
However, the pronouncements by the ODM leader that it is futile to seek redress at the Supreme Court portrays him as not being serious with a process he pursued with missionary zeal. Firstly, failure to appeal at the Supreme Court means that the process was a fraud and a waste of Wanjiku’s time. Was all the energy spent to drive this agenda in vain?
Secondly, it clearly reveals that the ODM leader would like to take over from President Uhuru Kenyatta and control 85 per cent of national revenue. The status quo will enable him to dangle the carrot to influence various decisions at Cabinet and Parliament levels. Thirdly, the BBI crusaders were not enthused with the increase of constituencies, which they insinuated were meant to benefit the Mt Kenya region.
Fourthly, the ‘nobody can stop reggae’ catchphrase was a ploy to hoodwink Kenyans to join a bandwagon into the 2022 campaigns and had nothing to do with BBI. Fifthly, Raila knows the difficulty of shared leadership having served as Prime Minister. The current arrangement offers unhindered powers to implement decisions with less difficulty.
The train has left the station and it will be interesting to hear which words of comfort will be conferred to the BBI orphans. The quashing of the BBI reggae has culminated in a political miscarriage.
One wonders who will now push the agenda for equal representation in Parliament, the one-third gender rule, or the 35 per cent devolved funds. It is worth noting that, the judges have exempted the President from wrongdoing leaving Raila on hot coals. Whenever generations revisit the issue only the ODM leader will appear to be on the wrong side of things.
The verdict was timely coming at a weekend to enable various reactions to ebb with lamentations and celebrations over a beer, coffee, or overnight prayers. Raila had intimated that he has found a new formula to climb the mountain and this is a healthy undertaking away from the BBI pressure cooker. However, mountain climbing has no set formula and it requires an open mind.
The greatest realisation is that to climb a mountain you need a ‘bottom-up approach’ and guides who know the terrain. To endear himself without BBI magic, the ODM leader can do the following.
Firstly, the greatest hurdle for any presidential hopeful in the Mt Kenya region is how to deal with looming voter apathy. For a region that is not contending for the top position, voters may not have a compelling factor to participate in the electoral process.
Secondly, while the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated businesses countrywide, the government has overburdened them with higher taxes. Restrictions to do business have not augured well while the torching of purported counterfeit goods at Athi River during the Jubilee era is a big blow.
Thirdly, the poverty index has gone up in the populous region despite the resources generated. The expected continuation of the development projects from the Kibaki era was not forthcoming. Prices of coffee, tea, and horticultural commodities have not improved.
Truth is, the real ‘reggae’ for Kenyans, which entails toiling to earn daily bread, seeking government interventions and handouts (serikali inglilie kati) and voting every five years for leaders who never think about them, has not stopped.