The second week of December was Raila Odinga’s moment in the sun. Supporters and critics watched the reality show starring the rebound enigma.
Raila ran for president for the first time in 1997. He was rehearsing for this moment, even as it was a daring challenge to President Daniel Moi’s oligarchy.
The owner of Kanu – the Baba na Mama party – had money and cheek to manipulate, buy, and divide the opposition. Much of the political goodies so easily dished out then – and even now – were proceeds impunity.
Railaphobia of a decade ago is fading. The architects of the hate say Raila isn’t a bad man: They ogrenised him. Raila’s mistake was, they say, running against ‘our sons’— Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki. The Mountain has since exhausted its presidential potential.
On the eve of the 2007 presidential election, Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya, then Minister for Finance, out of spite, contempt, malice, and ethnic jaundice, told Raila the Nairobi Securities Exchange wasn’t a fish market.
The ethnic slur resonated across Central Kenya. But on Wednesday, last week, Kimunya saw Raila as an icon who should have been president three elections ago. The icon is a larger-than-life persona who towers above the mediocrity of the era. The man has a history of personal sacrifice for the national good.
Kimunya, now National Assembly Majority leader, was saying Raila’s time has arrived. Presidential insider David Murathe, a confessed former Raila hatemonger against, calls it the ‘Mandela Moment’.
On the eve of 2007 general election, owners of capital from Central Kenya were persuaded the change-charged Raila could not safeguard their interests.
Kibaki didn’t have to win, he was forced to claim victory. “We have decided President Mwai Kibaki will be sworn-in today, a member of the club of tycoons told a High Court judge at the poolside of a high-end city hotel.
The day before the ‘we have decided’ moment, Kenyans went to bed with Raila enjoying a 1,000,000-vote lead against the system’s candidate. The delayed results of the presidential election, and the withholding of some, indicated figures were being cooked.
Last week owners of capital, including those creating jobs during a pandemic, told the electorate their investments are safe in the hands of Raila. The same group supported Kibaki in 2002 and 2007. In 2013, and 2017, they endorsed Uhuru and William Ruto. For the DP, what was right in 2013 and 2017 is wrong in 2022.
Today, the wealthy are putting the DP in the reject box, where they had Raila in 1997, 2007, 2013, and 2017. They may endorse Ruto for president in 2032, when he mellows.
Two key events of the week define the remake of Raila. One, owners of capital have endorsed his presidential bid. Two, the Nairobi edition of Azimio La Umoja confirmed a rebranded Raila is running for president.
The man Railaphobics wanted to retire to Bondo is firmly in the race. The avalanche of endorsements of key stakeholders, including 34 of 47 governors, adds gravitas to the former PM’s life-long ambition.
SK Macharia, the owner of Ramogi TV, the youngest station in town, has always supported Raila. The proprietor of Royal Media Services saw decades ago what central Kenya tycoons see today.
Raila said, “I am not running for president to oppose anyone, but to propose better policies. I am in this race to mold one indivisible nation. I am not at war with personalities, I am at war with ideologies that would lead this nation in the wrong direction.”