By Mohamed Matope
There is something called dumb politics. Yesterday, Raila Odinga practiced just that. We all observed such a historic day in African politics when the Kenyan high court overturned Kenyatta’s election victory. The court’s decision also represents a turning point in African political landscape as the continent gradually moves away from authoritarian regimes to embracing the rule of law.
Raila Odinga, the opposition leader whose petition to overturn the election was granted by the high court in 4 to 2 verdict, had an opportunity to use the high court decision to his advantage, to build up momentum for his campaign that could have possibly propelled him to the next election win. But instead, he decided to spend almost all day squandering his political capital on bashing the member of election commission (IEBC). I really don't know who the political advisers for Mr Odinga are. Anyway, at this time it really doesn't matter, the damage is already done. He was certainly ill advised and probably set himself up for another election loss as a result.
In his first press conference after the court decision, in a very narcissistic fashion, Mr Odinga spent more than three minutes expressing his anger and intent on vengeance. He recapitulated on how he would go after the IEBC members for ruining previous election. He even raised the possibility that they should all be charged with the graver offense of treason.
On the other hand, while Raila was busy planting his hateful seeds, current and incumbent President Kenyatta was giving a very inspiring and unifying speech. A speech that will probably be hailed as the best ever made by any modern African leader, in which he said "The court has made its decision. We don’t agree with it. We respect it. And again, I say peace ... peace, peace, peace. We are not at war with our brothers in the opposition. We are all Kenyans." He later continued to accept that "That is the nature of democracy."
In politics every crisis is precious, you don't let it go to waste. Mr Odinga had an opportunity to unite the country by praising court decision, thanking Kenyatta for respecting court ruling, showing the pride of his country's judicial system and democracy together with its affirmation in the governance system of checks and balance. Then he needed to quickly move on to lay out his campaign agenda. Again, instead, like an angry child or a sore loser, he chose to re-litigate the case.
After the dust is settled and the smoke clears in the aftermath of yesterday's ruling, one thing is clear; Kenyatta lost a case in court but had won the most significant immeasurable aspect that the court could not offer - the admiration not only of Kenyans but all Africans for his historic decision to respect and abide by the rule of law. This is the very thing that many African dictators and heads of state are known to deny their citizens.
In the end, he came out as the unselfish candidate who put the interests of his country way ahead of his. To many, he will be remembered as the president that did not consider himself above the law. Personally, if I were Kenyan, I would probably vote for him just to give him credit for his courage of relinquishing his re-election victory peacefully while resisting the easy way out of utilizing government security apparatus to clinch to power.
One thing explicit in this spectacle is that the high court can only do so much. Judges cannot hand the presidency to Mr Odinga. He has to earn it. The only ways to earn it is by going before Kenyans and articulate an optimistic forward looking vision for the country. According to information coming from Raila and his advisers, and judging from what we have seen so far, it's increasingly clear that he is neither capable of making that case, nor does he possess that particular attribute to catapult him to the presidential chair. Sadly, at this point, unless the unthinkable happens, the presidency seems to be way too far from his reach.
25 comments:
I disagree with the decision but I have to say I am surprised (maybe excited). This is a first for an independent African nation considering the fact that the South Africans cannot even rid themselves of president who has been convicted of fraud and corruption. A sitting president having to get reaffirmed by the country, especially since the courts did not find corruption or fraud but most likely tabulation irregularities. In addition, the court had to deal with a precedent from 2013 that was almost legally insurmountable. The key word from the Chief Justice was the phrase he used "an election is a process not an event" That means the Kenya courts may have elevated the process of vote tabulation and reporting as constitutionally important as voting itself. So what the observers saw was unrestricted voting, what they could not determine was the opaque counting and tabulation system.,
Kenya has shown itself to be more of a democracy than the U.S. is, its Supreme Court having done what should have been done with the last presidential election in the U.S., which would have spared us the unremitting dysfunction and grief that has followed it.
FYI, the president will most likely win re-election. He just has to wait 60 days. In Kenya's mix of tribal and economic alliances, his ruling coalition still controls about 55 to 60 percent of the voting population.
Good well written article ,I have arrived to the same conclusion too .Additionally, if it was opposite and Raila was a president I bet you my life He would have not respect or honor the high court decision ,that how selfish moron he is.
To be fair, the Court's decision only says that the election needs to be redone because of too many anomalies. It does not say that any votes were specifically tampered with, only that it was possible. It's entirely possible the vote will be the same next time, we'll have to see. I agree with your assertion that Odinga may lose bigger than previous election ,he is not a good candidate.
Great article. Well articulated. I'm Kenyan and yes this is how I feel. Odinga is narcissistic selfish individual that he should not be allowed even coming near statehouse.
If Kenya can do it, so can America as evidence mounts of treason and vote rigging in 2016.
If we REALLY want to be "exceptional" how about being exceptionally honest and stop the madness that has seized this country?
What do you mean Raila have to articulate forward looking vision for the country? his vision is vengeance and revenge as he has described in a press conference
Thanks for speaking your mind Matope. I am sure your article will be accepted as work of genius in Gatundu South or wherever you come from, because it echoes the feelings of most of your kinsmen. For most parts of central and Rift valley, this is the true gospel.
But allow me to point out just two things.
First, let me correct you that Raila has never really lost an election. Perhaps, only when he was still a light weight politician in a hugely divided opposition in 1997.
Two, Raila is so popular, and will continue to be, not because of his "ability to effectively manage post-loss narratives" but rather because he has and stands by ideologies that most kenyans identify with.
Two, Raila is so popular, and will continue to be, not because of his "ability to effectively manage post-loss narratives" but rather because he has and stands by ideologies that most kenyans identify
I could not agree more with you on your observations. And the answer to your query on if Jubilee understands is: NO! And neither do the millions of Kenyans. Raila is fixated with the idea of being president, and nothing but being president; the president! "HIS EXCELLENCY, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE KENYAN ARMED FORCES, THE PRESIDENT, OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF KENYA, RAILA AMOLLO ODINGA, Esquire, ETC, ETC, ETC. With due respect, at around 70 years of age, 2017 is not acceptable to him, the sooner the better- and that is his ambition.
From a social psychological perspective, I will be wasting my time in trying to persuade anyone that Raila cares for nothing and no one but himself. He has not very successfully used similar techniques used by some churches/ and so-called evangelists to get followers. By exploiting and maintaining imaginary tribal animosities/differences, he uses invisible hypnotic techniques. Ever paid attention to his hands during speeches? Hand gestures speak and command. They are not spontaneous and are meant to influence the masses. I sympathize with the DP and others who laugh and scoff at Raila when he non-expertly launches into his "vitendawili" ploys. They are not rubbish. They are pure Ericksonian hypnotic ploys to divert attention, and implant suggestions on to the masses. Ever really wondered why he appears popular??? What about the ploy of appearing mysteriously at Uhuru park when arriving from US??? What is that trick intended to trigger off, subconsciously, especially if you attended \Sunday school?? Someone once said; "Let me be President, even for ONE DAY!!".
While the assessment is nearly right, Raila has no laid down plan to do anything, let alone the capacity to run any effective government. I guess, thats why he has failed time and again! He practically flopped in every sphere when he was the prime minister. He was short of ideas! But completely superb in manufacturing lies. He specializes in character assassinations. However, beyond that, he is as clueless as anyone can imagine. Anyhow, he is currently enjoying preaching vengeance. But he has to remember that Luo votes by itself can not give him an election win.
Dr Matope,Please Leave Raila alone.
Mambo ambayo Raila ameifanyia Kenya yanatosha hata akiukosa uraisi.
Hiyo hali ya kupinga matokeo kotini imetokana ya mabadiliko makubwa ya kikatiba ambayo bila Nguvu ya Raila yasingepita,
Kifupi in TZ hatuna kama yeye.
Ndugu Matope kwa kifupi Bongo hatuna mwanasiasa wa upinzani kama huyu Omera(mwanaume).
Raila kawapa wakenya katiba mpya,including dual citizenship.
Raila atakubwukwa kama Baba wa democracy ya Kenya.
The Supreme Court ruling was a major mistake that opened the door for Raila and his line of garbage . He will not stop this kind of rhetoric of dividing and concur until he gets a pie in the Government or win election . The problem is he will lose and this will drag on and on .
Thank you for your up to the point, piece. I have enjoyed every bit Of it.
I'm very impressed by your piece and your observation , however, its too early to jump into conclusion. You must be Kikuyu and influenced by one, I'm pretty sure Kenyatta's camp bribes you to write this garbage. what make you think Raila is a moron?You seem to predict his demise, He probably made mistakes on this one but is not over just yet.
The provocative stance of Odinga is troubling: (1) there were blood shed the last two times he lost (2) he is NOT offering any actionable solutions to resolve the dispute. Is it his position that he will instigation chaos UNLESS HE WINS??? We need evidence. The court has yet to release evidence that informed their decision to nullify the last election. Even if the court holds opinions that someone(s) in the election commission committed fraud. Such opinions would be no more than allegations that need to be proven in the court of law. The accused deserve the right to be presumed innocent until proven legal. Does Odinga respect the rule of law?
Trying to be a democratic president in Africa is not easy.Uhuru Kenyatta has tried to follow the tenets of democracy but see what opposition leaders did to him-they hijacked judicial service commission,recruite4d judges and colluded to defeat the will of kenyan people.Wake up Uhuru.
MATOPE!! wewe ni matope but your arguments doesn't sound like your name, its more cleaner. I have read you on another Kenya Blog but was in hurry, let me clarify one thing here .Raila doesnt have numbers to win the election.He was beaten by more than 1.5m votes but conspires with the chief justice his relative to overule a clear victory.Uhuru has a super majority in both parliaments and governers and is sure of winning again despite the opposition being funded by obama and terrorists.He is
Raila lost the 1st round and he knows it . Raila will lose even bigger in the 2nd round . Read close in the court ruling and all that was found was procedure issues ...there was no vote rigging or any other illegal evidence showing vote tampering .....just a technical ruling .
Raila lost the 1st round and he knows it . Raila will lose even bigger in the 2nd round . Read close in the court ruling and all that was found was procedure issues ...there was no vote rigging or any other illegal evidence showing vote tampering .....just a technical ruling .
I am very happy and I think all Africans should congratulate the Kenyas supreme court for respecting peoples decision. From now is consider to be the unique example taken by the head of the supreme court. Hopply this is an example to be followed by other african countries. Go on African. An example of credible democarcy has started in kenya.
The same international community that he trashed are the same people he is now running to, asking for their support, this man Raila I think he has never believes that he will never rule this country. He tried taking the UHURUTO helpd by KAI and the rest to Hague, it flopped. Tried to complain all along that IEBC was full of people that always stole his victory, asked for their removal unconcstitutionary and instead puting even a chairman who was once his supporter and ODM candidate but still i didnt work as he wanted, He came up with dead people theory but then the IEBC which he costituted made sure that that is impossible, went to court on numerous times blocking this or that only for people to realise that he was using Odunga who happens to be Orengo's relative ( thats why Orengo always took all cases to this judge) but even after winning all the cases, he still complained that the elections were stolen. He went to court and used the Maraga 4, and told them if they dont rule in his favor then they are irredemable and so they ruled in his favor and obviously redeemed themselves in RAILA's eyes and this made him very happy and note RAILA NEVER CHALLENGED votes casted, the voting process, voters' turnout or otherwise because he had agents everywhere and they told him that everything else was to the per, sentiments amblified by the international observers and because all he wanted was for the court to nullify the elections and make him feel better and sure it did! When you look at the ruling which i believe was meant to give RAILA a winning edge, the problem was transmission, question is why didnt the court order a recount? But ths is where we are now, I wonder if he gets defeated this time round what excuse he will come up with? They say you can lie to people at some times but you cannot lie to people at all times, come OCT 17 am waiting to see what lie will RAILA come up with?
We cannot sack people just because some opposition figure doesnt like them.Oposition leader can not throw out treason charges on IEBC members. Everyone must be protected by the Constitution not just Raila. These people should be given a chance to be heard before any action is taken against them. Furthermore, evidence must be adduced as to their capability in any process of the annulled presidential poll. Raila is not a god or spirit that knows what is happening everyone. Let us follow and respect the rule of law. We cannot render 5 kenyans jobless just to employ on kenyan.
MATOPE !! are you Kikuyu or Meru? .........IEBC follow the law very strictly.Raila is wrong bashing them. If locking out Presidential candidates will violate the constitution and nullify the election, do not restrict them. The Supreme court did not talk about dismissing IEBC staff and you cannot run the IEBC, it is an Independent law. Does the law require the six to go home, if it does let them go, if it does not, Raila respect the law of this country. If you want to remove the staff Mr. Raila just as you ran to supreme court, follow the set down procedure and the law. If you boycot election everyone else will proceed. All the Forms,34A, B and C to be done according to the law, if they need to have names or water marks or be original, let it be so. If there is no requirement even a piece of paper can do, but law to be following character by character without omitting even a coma. No more blackmail, we are tired we want to get a President whoever the voters choose and we go on with our lives. We are young and have a full life in front of us, we are not 72 years olds.
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