conflicker I fear for my party ODM because it’s staring at the possibility of death occasioned by Gladys Wanga, John Mbadi, Opiyo Wandayi or William Ruto.
Let’s face it. Even if ODM will have a presidential candidate in 2027 as Baba (Raila Odinga) would have wished, the trio will vote for William Ruto. The larger Luo community is a pricey political currency the three ODM leaders are trading in to secure their future.
Technically speaking, the three together with a few others have already defected to William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party. There is no logic in true members of ODM to campaign for the president’s two terms. It’s a show of lack of faith in their own party.
In series a public forums, Wanga has been castigating former President Uhuru Kenyatta (who was deputised by Ruto for 10 years) as a no-gooder. She publicly tells party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna that his Luhyia community has outlived its welcome in the Orange party. Last week, she was very unsavoury in her description of Kenyatta: “Uhuru spoke with pain and anger yesterday, but we cannot listen to him. We stood by him during the handshake and supported him, yet he never truly recognised our efforts. I personally woke up every morning at 6am to defend him on television, but we did not receive anything from his government.
“We struggled to support him after Raila Odinga entered the handshake to help stabilise the country. So whatever he says now, I don’t pay attention because when he had power, he ignored us.”
The governor showered Ruto with praise: “Ruto, on the other hand, immediately gave us senior cabinet positions after engaging with Raila. With all the appointments and development projects underway, including contractors working on previously stalled roads, we know Ruto has stood with us. Homa Bay is now seeing real progress, and we are firmly aligned with broad-based development.”
The Political Parties Act presumes defection when you promote the ideals of another party but that’s not the case for the three, they are just deeply in love with William Ruto. It is understandable since all of them joined the party as a train for their political careers but not as believers in its philosophy. That’s why it is easier for them to move on so quickly.
I have deliberately omitted others – including Oburu Odinga – among this group because he appears lost and perhaps incapable of leading a massive movement left behind by his brother; but it’s equally distressing for Oburu to support the talk of the Luo community.
It baffles me when they talk of having taken a decision to remain in broad-based as a Luo community. What about other members? I’m an ODM life-member and I don’t know of the party organ called “Luo Community ODM” that can make such a weighty decision if not the ODM National Delegates Conference.
Kenyans have watched with disbelief John Mbadi, Gladys Wanga and Opiyo Wandayi purport to make far reaching decisions as Luo Community as euphemism to mean ODM.
I don’t wish to belabour the fact that the Luhyia community in western and other parts of Kenya have for many years given Raila Odinga more votes than the Luo. To reduce him to a mere community leader is to say the least – regrettable. To treat Luhyia like trash in the party is the most unforgivable sin the Luo can commit. It is sacrilegious.
It’s therefore the height of insolence for senior party officials to sacrifice the party on the altar of personal interests. It’s more worrying when the current party leadership joins in to a firm the “as a community” talk.
While the unusual circumstances in the country forced Baba to make a temporary decision for the sake of the country, it was not meant to be the end of a 60-year struggle against the state injustices that saw Jaramogi differ with Kenyatta on principle and suffered immensely for it.
It wasn’t meant for us to forget that it was the same William Ruto who with the system robbed Raila Odinga’s votes thrice.
We shouldn’t forget that William Ruto is part and parcel of the system that kept Raila in detention for close to 10 years and destroyed his health. It is inconceivable that we have just forgotten that William Ruto’s political wish was to permanently take Raila Odinga to Bondo.
We are not meant to forget that there are young Kenyans nursing bullet injuries for simply stepping out to protest injustices in the country. We were never meant to keep quiet in the face of high level corruption that is rendering millions of Kenyan youth jobless as billions are looted daily.
To the many of us, the ODM party was formed to take Kenyans out of Egypt to Canaan and that has been the spirit that millions of Kenyans held dear in hope that one day Baba would get a chance at the top and make things right.
Apparently, it never happened because of Pharaoh’s system and the many “crocodiles” in the river Jordan that finally claimed his life. How we can get cosy with Pharaoh and forget that Kalonzo Musyoka abandoned his personal ambition to support Raila Odinga for 15 years is irresponsibly selfish and unwise decision.
It’s that unwavering commitment to correct things in Kenya and Africa that made Raila Odinga an iconic figure around the world. Since in his last address to the members Raila Odinga issued a strong indication that ODM would have a candidate in 2027, anyone issuing contradictory statements in pursuit of personal interests should be encouraged to quit and join William Ruto’s UDA.
They should not be allowed to adulterate the ODM since there’s nothing binding ODM with UDA. It’s not possible for the light and darkness to exist at the same time.
