Raila Agwambo pod pek! In the Words of Prof. Makau Mutua THIS IS WHY KIDERO MUST SEEK TO BE PRESIDENT AS A KENYAN, NOT A LUO *************************************************************************** Unlike ODM supremo Raila Odinga, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Mr Odinga is the prince to Dr Kidero’s lumpen proletariat. Their pedigrees are oceans apart. As they say, the two men come from different sides of the tracks. Don’t let Dr Kidero’s wealth and political might fool you. His is a rags-to-riches story. His father was a humble Nairobi policeman. His mother a homemaker. His meteoric rise bespeaks of a man who’s at once cunning, brilliant and determined. He has felled many a mugumo [fig tree] in his life. Which begs the question – does he have what it takes to dominate and outfox Mr Odinga to become the Luo Messiah? Let me tell you the similarities and dissimilarities between the two ODM titans. Mr Odinga entered politics as a Luo-Kenyan. He was a Luo first, and a Kenyan second. The reverse was true for Mr Kidero. He made his debut in politics as a Kenyan-Luo. Dr Kidero was a Kenyan first, and a Luo second. Mr Odinga, despite being the progeny of the nationalist Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, was initially a provincial politician. Mr Odinga worked hard to “evolve” into a national – not just Luo – leader. I can say without equivocation that Mr Odinga is the most national of the country’s top senior political class. Make no mistake – Mr Odinga hasn’t forsaken the Luo Nation, but he’s transcended it. This is the rub. While Mr Odinga has “evolved” into a nationalist, Dr Kidero is “devolving” into a tribalist. Someone – I don’t know who – has convinced Dr Kidero that he should gun for the Luo chieftaincy to become a viable presidential candidate. He has concluded, sadly, that he can’t be elected President of the Republic of Kenya if he’s “merely” Kenyan. That’s a paradox that must disturb and haunt our collective conscience. I fear Dr Kidero is right because he’s a student of Kenyan politics. He’s read the memo that says you can’t be elected President without a solid tribal base. This is plain and simple – Dr Kidero has succumbed to the primeval instinct in our primitive politics. Look at the history of Kenya’s electoral map. In 2012, Narc leader Mwai Kibaki was elected President by cobbling a coalition of four of the five dominant tribes. There’s strong evidence to suggest that Mr Kibaki actually lost – although he was declared the victor – the 2007 elections because PNU couldn’t assemble a commanding tribal coalition. Fast forward to 2013. Dr Kidero is no fool – he knows the Jubilee coalition of Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA and William Ruto’s URP pulled a rabbit out of a hat because of the solid backing of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin, their tribal strongholds. Dr Kidero believes he must secure the Luo first, then bargain with other ethnic barons to ascend to State House. Dr Kidero, the Nairobi urbanite, is going back to his ancestral roots in Luo Nyanza. Some pundits think he’s being used by Jubilee to discombobulate Mr Odinga, and wrestle the mantle of the Luo Nation from Agwambo. He has endured many unflattering epithets from the ODM column. Like Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno, Dr Kidero has been dubbed a Jubilee mole in ODM. But methinks Dr Kidero has more Nairobi cunning in him than ODM bluebloods give him credit for. It is not improbable that he has been orchestrated by Jubilee. But it is plausible that he could be using Jubilee’s state resources to sink his teeth into Luo Nyanza. Why shouldn’t he scratch Jubilee’s back if they are scratching his? The peril for Nairobi Governor is that Luo Nyanza is littered with political corpses of those who’ve dared to dethrone the Odingas. The iconic Tom Mboya – the father of Dr Kidero’s wife, Dr Susan Akello Mboya – viciously fought Jaramogi only to be eliminated by those around Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. Minister William Odongo Omamo was a political casualty in the court of the Odingas. Minister Raphael Tuju, another quisling, fell by the wayside after being egged on against Mr Odinga by Mr Kibaki’s NAK Mt Kenya acolytes. Even ODM’s Anyang’ Nyong’o and James Orengo faced the wrath of the Luo Nation when they attempted to politically decapitate Agwambo. Dr Kidero should beware of the guillotine. I have nothing against Dr Kidero. He has worked hard, and true to capitalism, he’s entitled to his success. It’s great to see a poor kid from the streets of Nairobi rise to the country’s most hallowed boardrooms and political pinnacles. But if Dr Kidero is to convince me and other Kenyans to support him – against anyone, including Mr Odinga – he must not “devolve” into a tribal kingpin.He is the Governor of Nairobi, Kenya’s most cosmopolitan city. He must seek office as a Kenyan, not a Luo. -- Courtesy of Sunday Standard
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 09:00:01 +0000