The Mt Kenya Times 
Raila Odinga addresses a mammoth crowd at Kamukunji in Kibra on Sunday, February 5, 2023. Photo: RAILA ODINGA/TWITTER
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- The Handshake between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta marked the beginning of Dr Ruto’s humiliation. He was being treated as an outsider.
- In various occasions, President Uhuru showed openly that he considered him to be a burden.
- This took a new turn when he relieved him of his duties and transferred them to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi. Many believed that Raila had also usurped some of DP’s powers.
- Prior to this, Uhuru Ruto had coined the name of Tanga Tanga (rubbish) and used it to refer to Ruto and his brigade.
- Though the name was considered to be highly derogatory and insulting, Ruto beat Uhuru in own game. He employed his mastery of political skills and used the name to build his popularity.
The other day, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga addressed the third protest rallies at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi.
He declared that the rallies will continue and will now take them to all other parts of country.
We intend to escalate the protests into a full blown mass action.
Our next rally will be held in Mavoko in Machakos County. From there, we head to Busia in Western, Rift Valley and Central Kenya.
Raila also took this opportunity to unveil a youth resistance movement, dubbed Movement for Defense of Democracy (MDD).
The culmination of the events will be the National Convention that will be held in Nairobi. I will direct millions of my supporters on what to do on that day.
We do not recognize Mr Ruto as the President of this country and the officials supposedly serving in his administration.
This is because he never won the elections. He instead got the presidency by hijacking the electoral process and subverting the sovereign will of people.
I doubt any right-thinking Kenyan can buy this political card.
The Handshake between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta marked the beginning of Dr Ruto’s humiliation. He was being treated as an outsider.
In various occasions, President Uhuru showed openly that he considered him to be a burden.
This took a new turn when he relieved him of his duties and transferred them to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi. Many believed that Raila had also usurped some of DP’s powers.
Prior to this, Uhuru Ruto had coined the name of Tanga Tanga (rubbish) and used it to refer to Ruto and his brigade.
Though the name was considered to be highly derogatory and insulting, Ruto beat Uhuru in own game. He employed his mastery of political skills and used the name to build his popularity.
Here, he played the victim card that it worked very well in hyping up public emotions and sympathies.
It should also be noted many attempts were made to kick him out of the Jubilee party.
He remained put and played the same card.
Again, the petition that had Raila filed at the Supreme Court seeking nullification of Ruto’s victory was thrown out.
The apex court ruled it had been built from propaganda and hearsay and hence fell far short of meeting the requisite threshold.
At the time, Raila cast himself as a believer in the rule of law and the constitution.
He repeatedly stated that he will respect and accept the verdict of the court.
Six months later, he turns around to allege he was rigged out. Does he expect Kenyans to believe him?
I have heard him saying that he had in his possession a ‘whistle blower’ dossier showing he had won the elections.
If this person exists, why did he fail to use the ‘evidence’ to support his petition at Supreme Court?
To me, Raila knows that he lost the election despite enjoying the support of the deep state and the system.
For Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua, God and the people of Kenya were on thier side.
For now, Raila is using the same card he used during the reigns of Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
His interpretation of leadership is that those at the helm are eating. He will not allow them to eat alone. He has to fight his way to join them on the high table.
President Ruto and his allies have repeatedly stated. This time, he should forget ‘nusu mkate’. You developed a bad habit and this has to come to end.
It has now emerged that Raila, 78, is digging in for battle of his life.
Besides telling Ruto he is ready to die, he has dared him to arrest him. I overcame the storms during the reign of former President Daniel Arap Moi. He was a worst dictator.
If his push for a nusu mkate fail to bear fruits, Azimio will conceptualize it’s plot of staging a bloodless civilian coup.
They borrow from what happened in Sri Lanka when the President was forced to flee into exile after opposition supporters stormed the capital and forcibly took over the presidential palace.
Here, I want give Azimio unsolicited advise. Kenya is not Sri Lanka. President Ruto is a hard nut to crack. He has weathered many storms.
The President has been treating your ‘protest rallies’ with kid gloves. Don’t take his patient to mean he is a coward.
Plotting a civilian coup against a popular elected government is unconstitutional and it is categorized as a capital offence.
So, Raila should not try this. Ruto will deal with you firmly in accordance with provisions of the law.
If I were Raila, I would heed Ruto’s call on creation of the office of the official opposition leader. This office will give you opportunity to check the government while inside in parliament and outside.
The government will allocate funds to run your office. So, you will be on a salary and your staff.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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