Post by miguna on Mar 11, 2007 18:54:47 GMT 3
RAILA IS THE GLUE THAT HOLDS ODM-K TOGETHER
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - 10 March 2007
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - 10 March 2007
All over the world, and at any given historical epoch, there emerges a dominant, towering and influential figure that commands respect, generates both fear and veneration, and exerts close to mythical power over fellow citizens to the extent that more often than not, his or her word acquires an element of a command, not to be disobeyed easily.
Such personalities have the potential to unite and lead their people to great victories. However, there have been times when they have become nerve centers of resentment, suspicion, jealousy and wars.
We have had such personalities in business, politics, religion, the military and culture. Usually, such power does not emerge from any genetical lineages, although at times, this is deemed evident.
Luanda Magere of the Luo was such a leader. Feared, brave, possessed of supernatural powers and military prowess. Oral history is replete with Luanda Magere’s military exploits against neighbouring communities. He was a marvelous commander and a unifying force among his people.
The name Luanda Magere rekindles pride and confidence among the Luo. But it generates lots of fear and trembling among communities that fell prey to his massive sword. It is said that enemies’ spears could not penetrate his skin; that his body was pure rock. To defeat him, his enemies had to marry off one of their daughters to learn his secrets - eventually leading to his demise.
In modern times, the Luo revered Odera Kan’go – reputed for literally caning and forcing Luos from Gem to register in Missionary schools. Ker Paulo Mboya, Tom Mboya and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga rose to the same level of veneration.
However, these legends are not restricted to the Luo.
The Kalenjin had Koitelel arap Samoie. The Kikuyu, Dedan Kimathi, Waiyaki wa Hinga and Jomo Kenyatta (Johnston Kamau). And the Luhyia had Nabongo of Wanga Mkulu. Other Kenyan communities had their heroes and heroines.
We also have international examples.
Take the example of Napoleon Bonaparte; his power, influence and enduring mystique originated from his military genius and superior strategic and tactical skills that dwarfed that of all his opponents. This saw him succeed in each and every military encounter he faced, culminating in his enthronement as an Emperor of the French. Napoleon achieved this unprecedented feat despite his height, linguistic limitations and disadvantages associated with the fact that he was not French or Caucasian. [Height is significant in military language]
A poor boy from a tiny Mediterranean Island of Corsica had overcome all racial, cultural, linguistic and other natural factors hitherto viewed as disadvantages, to assume powers that would rival the superpower position of the United States of America in world affairs in the 21st century.
In business, technology and innovation, Bill Gates transformed Microsoft from a first year university student’s hobby to a multi-billion dollar global behemoth that it is today. Along the way, Gates has minted billions and made hundreds of people billionaires, created scientific innovation that could not have been foreseen.
Yet, Gates is actually just a university drop-out who had shown no superior intelligence or innovation. No evidence of extraordinary powers beyond his adolescent curiosity, persistence and discipline has been discovered. But he has held Microsoft together for more than two decades.
The same holds true of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Czech Republic’s Vaclav Havel, Russia’s Vladimir Lenin, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, and Otto Von Bismarck of Germany or Canada’s Jean Chrétien.
Mandela used his intellect, vision, discipline and doggedness to transform the African National Congress from a rag-tag guerilla movement into an international military and political force that ended apartheid in 1993 before becoming the 11th president and 1st post-apartheid president of South Africa. And he did most of this during his twenty-seven long years in incarceration, mostly under untold hardship in Robben Island. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Vladimir Lenin and Bismarck united disparate interests and forces in their respective countries. Lenin managed a successful revolution of Russia on November 8, 1917. On his part, Bismarck united Germans who were facing colonization from other Europeans.
In Czechoslovakia (before the break up of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993), an innovative, consistent and courageous playwright called Vaclav Havel, who had faced long jail terms over tramp up charges, successfully led a velvet revolution and freed his people from oppression in 1989. Even after the division of Czechoslovakia, he continued to glue the Czechs together.
The revolutionary Castro performed miracles with his oratorical acumen, superior organizational skills, a thorough understanding of military strategy and legendary courage to overthrow the Batista feudal regime in Cuba in 1959. He has held Cuba together ever since, despite the permanent sabotage and threats by the successive American administrations.
Jean Chrétien had limited oratorical skills, was not known for his sharp intellect; yet, apart from the legendary Pierre Trudeau, Chrétien remains one of those street smart politicians who generated lots of affection, loyalty and political support among Canadians. He kept Canada united under intense pressure of a fractious referendum in 1995 when Quebec secession became a real threat. Chrétien did not do all this through smoothness, deception and cunning tricks. He kept Canada united through political savvy, smarts and courage.
Examples galore in the world over individuals who have used their extraordinary powers, courage, oratorical skills and organizational acumen to lead their people to victory against repression, domination and subjugation.
Which then leads me to the central question of this article: Who is the glue that holds ODM-K together?
To answer that simple question, we need to look at the events of the last four years in Kenya’s politics, with a focus on the last two weeks.
Although a lot has been said and written about the collapsed ODM-K leaders’ trip to London; no one has paid close attention to what seems obvious. Before Raila left Kenya for his tour of the United States of America, there was no rift in ODM-K over the trip. In fact, it is fair to say that Kenyans had not heard of this trip until Kalonzo Musyoka announced it at his rally in Kakamega on Thursday, March 1st, 2007.
One would assume that the trip had long been planned and that all the ODM-K leaders had no problem with it. We must assume this unless those ODM-K leaders that stayed away would want us to believe that they had accepted the invitations to attend blindly. That would not just expose them as naïve, unsophisticated and quite unprepared for national leadership; it would also demonstrate that they have no presidential organizations worth their names.
Yet, in the two weeks Raila has been away from Kenya, two disturbing artificially orchestrated controversies have threatened to destroy ODM-K. Curiously, both conflicts feature one character – Kalonzo Musyoka.
The first one involved a false allegation given undue prominence by the East African Standard Newspaper, claiming that Kalonzo’s official website had been hacked and that all traffic were being directed to Raila’s official website. Raila was subsequently attacked viciously for being desperate to win ODM-K’s presidential nomination and trying to defeat Kalonzo unfairly. People speaking for Kalonzo were quoted as claiming that they had tried to fix the problem regarding Kalonzo’s site for one week without success!
A character we had never heard of previously then threatened to expel all legitimate ODM-K officials like Prof Anyang’ Nyong'o and Henry Kosgei, arguing that he was the bona fide chairman of ODM-K. Interestingly, Maanzo supported Kalonzo and strongly fought off the ghosts he termed “Raila’s supporters.”
When the dust finally settled, Kenyans learnt that there was no hacking of Kalonzo’s official site and that the whole brouhaha was all a fuss about nothing. Throughout the entire episode, Kalonzo’s site remained accessible and integral the way it has always been since its establishment.
Yet, Kalonzo and his people have not apologized to Raila for dragging his name into their imaginary fights.
Then came last week and all hell nearly broke lose. Not only were Kenyans treated to a theatrical cancellation of the “UK bonding trip”; dramatic allegations were made by Uhuru Kenyatta, William Rutto, Kalonzo Musyoka and Dr. Julia Ojiambo that they had resolved not to travel to the UK because Kenyans had been mislead to believe that they were going on a begging trip. They also “distanced” themselves from “some characters who had hijacked the trip for their selfish reasons.”
Insinuations, accusations and allegations followed that were contradictory, inconsistent and illogical.
Suddenly, all attention focused on Raila who was abroad. Conveniently, the spin was that Raila had tricked his ODM-K counterparts to travel to the UK in order to declare him Tosha! Nobody bothered to ask how Raila would have achieved such a feat.
ODM-K nearly fell apart in Raila’s absence - twice in two weeks. Both times, Kalonzo was intricately involved in the machinations; not as a unifying peacemaker but as a divisive character.
Clearly, Raila seems to be the glue that keeps ODM-K together. For without him, it is clear that one or more over-ambitious political amateurs who have been blinded by their ambition are prepared to sacrifice the only vehicle they have; foolishly thinking that he or they would manage to sideline Raila and take it over.
Only Raila is capable of effectively putting out fires threatening to decimate ODM-K. He proved this ability in 2002 when he rallied the Rainbow forces to join NAK, culminating in the formation of Narc. And he dramatically exemplified this power after Kibaki was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident. Without Raila’s charisma, energy and power, Narc could not have won the 2002 elections. He repeated this feat and performed miracles of sorts when the Orange Democratic movement humiliated president Kibaki and his cabal in the constitutional referendum of November 2005.
Despite the marshalling of the entire government and state machinery in a desperate attempt to force through a defective draft constitution (what I popularly christened the “Wako Mongrel”), Raila rallied his forces and buried the Mongrel Project in the same manner he had done to the Uhuru Project before it. Both times, Raila defeated a government with all the resources arraigned against him. He only succeeded due to his exceptional mobilizing, strategic and tactical brilliance.
These are inescapable facts.
It is only Raila’s presence, courage, vision and organizational skills that send fear down the spine of conspirators and those standing in the way to the inevitability of the third liberation.
They have failed, as they will continue to fail. The ODM-K presidential candidate is not going to be chosen through trickery or deception.
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*The writer is a barrister & solicitor in Toronto, Canada
Miguna@migunamiguna.com
