Is Raila Really Pushing The Agenda Of The ‘Oppressed’ As He Want Them To Believe?
The Mt Kenya Times 
Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- Reports indicated the movement is comprised of jobless youths drawn from the Universities, bunge la mwananchi, Nairobi slums and Kondele slum in Kisumu. In this rally. They were in full military attire and berets.
- This would be seen as a mockery of Interior CS Kithure Kindiki who had earlier warned them against wearing the attire.
- Donning military gear and other attire meant for personnel in other disciplined forces is serious crime. So, we will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute you if you fail to heed this warning, the CS added.
- In light of this, one cannot ignore the views of those saying Kindiki is weak, inexperienced and had no courage. This is in terms of dealing threats to national security and securing the nation.
A few days ago, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga took his anti-Ruto protest rallies to his home turf of Luo Nyanza.
He seized the opportunity to introduce a new phrase; the supreme court of history.
During the campaign, Mr Ruto made a raft of promises. Has he fulfilled them? He has not, he roared back as sections of crowd cheered him.
My message to you is. I’m ready to take the bull by its horn because I do not want the court of history to judge me and you harshly.
My political ideology is designed to liberate you from the yoke of oppression and dictatorship. I know you are courageous people just like me. Let us to walk together and we will win this battle.
Those telling me to move on should be ashamed. I won’t. I won the elections.
This time, there was a heavy presence of members of the Movement for Defense of Democracy (MDD), a ragtag army of civilians, he had launched a few days earlier during a similar protest rally in Kibra, Nairobi.
Reports indicated the movement is comprised of jobless youths drawn from the Universities, bunge la mwananchi, Nairobi slums and Kondele slum in Kisumu. In this rally. They were in full military attire and berets.
This would be seen as a mockery of Interior CS Kithure Kindiki who had earlier warned them against wearing the attire.
Donning military gear and other attire meant for personnel in other disciplined forces is serious crime. So, we will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute you if you fail to heed this warning, the CS added.
In light of this, one cannot ignore the views of those saying Kindiki is weak, inexperienced and had no courage. This is in terms of dealing threats to national security and securing the nation.
Some would also put him on spotlight and this is in regard to how he was tackling the menace of banditry attacks in North Rift.
He had given the bandits a three day ultimatum to surrender the illegal firearms and none of them complied.
Back to Raila’s anti-rallies, I ask this question. Is he really pushing the agenda of the ‘oppressed’?
I don’t think so. First, one thing is clear. Kenyans turned up in large numbers to cast thier votes in August 9, 2022. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), a creature of the constitution, conducted the polls. After the completion of the tallying of the presidential votes, Dr William Ruto, the Kenya Kwanza candidate, was declared the winner.
In the lead up to the polls, the two front-runners-Ruto and Raila-had each assured Kenyans they had faith in IEBC and would respect results.
For Raila, he would do what many expected. He has never accepted the defeat and this time he would do the same.
Lest we forget. He was making a fifth stab at the Presidency.
Raila immediately denounced the outcome and claimed that he had been rigged out.
The 2010 constitution in which he campaigned vigorously for its adoption allowed him to file a petition at the Supreme Court.
He did this. After the hearing, the seven judges of the apex court unanimously strike out the petition and dismissed it as a ‘hot air’.
This is because it had been built from propaganda and rumors.
To me, Raila knows that he lost the election. However, he would not allow those who won to ‘eat’ alone.
He used the same political card to arm-twist and blackmail Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta and he succeeded.
For him, Dr Ruto is a hard nut to crack. Ruto had repeatedly vowed that his Kenya Kwanza government had no room for ‘nusu mkate’.
The merger, cooperations and handshakes we had before were not good for our democracy.
The deals had created amorphous and mongrel sort of the government.
We have to move away from this. As your President, I support a strong and formidable opposition. He has remained true to this cause.
So, this leaves Raila with only one option. Take the battle with him back to court of public opinion.
Raila has previously set a bad precedent. I’m sure he has not changed. He is known to use the masses and a section of the leaders to push his own agenda. Once he bulldozes his way into government, he would abandon them.
The other thing is that he will longer continue fighting for the cause of the downtrodden.
He has joined the high table and it is now time to ‘eat’. Therefore, you cannot call him a true fighter.
For now, Kenyans are waiting to see who will blink first. Will President Ruto cave in to his machinations? If not, how does he plan to tame him?
I have noted that Dr Ruto has crafted a number of strategies. One of them is wooing and rallying the Azimio lawmakers to shift thier loyalty from him and his handshake partner, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, and support the development of his Kenya Kwanza government.
Dr Ruto is making good progress. He has so far invited them and held several meetings with them.
The time of politics is over. For now, we should focus on fulfilling the promises we made to electorate.
We have therefore agreed to work with the president.
For those hailing from Luo Nyanza, the message to Raila would be. Accept you lost and move on.
Ruto is the President. Swallow your pride and recognize him.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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