Former aide to the right honorable Raila Odinga and cord luminary, Eliud Owalo wrote an article in the Ureport section on Friday the 2nd of September titled: ODM is the party; and the future is orange.
In the article, Mr Owalo extolled on the purported achievements of cord and why the party deserves to be elected in 2017. Whilst appreciating instances when the official opposition has kept the ruling jubilee party on her toes, I found the article somewhat of an aversion from the truth, detached from reality and the musings of a person caught up in the miasma of party gloating and gratification.
I detected a dose of fatalism in his article and as the great French philosopher, Francois-Marie Arouet popularly known as Voltaire said “words were given to man to enable him to conceal his true feelings", perhaps there were some undercurrents of admission in his spine that cord was "toast".
Mr. Owalo was exalting, he reveled and rejoiced in Cord's supposed successes; from opening up the democratic space to usher in devolution, entrenching good governance, Okoa Kenya signatures reform initiative, reforming the IEBC-the list was endless. He compared Cord to other leading parties of the first world: the republicans and democrats of the US, the labor and the conservatives of the UK and the pro-freedom ANC party of South Africa.
First, I would like to point out that the brand of politics we have in Kenya is not the same as the USA, UK or South Africa. Kenya has a fledgling democracy but unlike the USA or UK, Kenya has largely tribal outfits and the politics is not largely idealistically driven. In the UK or USA, parties are fashioned around progressive ideas and viewpoints; it's a completely different kettle of fish!
Even the tenor of politics is different. Perhaps one day we will get there. I have a different perspective. I think as things stand right now, the chances that cord will triumph in 2017 are nadir. Why do I say that?
First, Cord will find it hard winning in 2017 with Raila Odinga firmly at the saddle.
Second, Cord has not created an internal atmosphere which allows for the healthy ventilation of productive ideas. Much to the befuddlement of many observers, I included, the party has not ignited a spark with Kenyans. It has not sufficiently connected and instead of creating an internal atmosphere that would be a magnet for ideas, the Cord narrative has revolved and oscillated around some key personalities mostly from Luo Nyanza led by Raila Odinga. Anything that comes out of this group is received with rapt attention and comes with finality, lending currency to claims in some quarters that the party is indeed owned by people from one region. For this reason, Cord stands indicted in the court of public opinion.
Third, Cord's conversion rate vis a vis the bounce rate. Cord lost key personalities for example the former director of elections, Magerer Langat, Franklin Bett, Gideon Mungaro, James Mwaura, I could go on and on.
On the contrary, the ruling jubilee has seen her numbers swell, buttressed by the increasing number of former Ford adherents who decided to jump ship.
What has happened to Cord's ideas vault? Many are asking. All we have seen from the Cord fraternity are the occasional run with the police during the IEBC maelstrom, where businesses lost millions of shillings. Other than that, Cord's idea bank has been severely running on low.
When people look at Cord they see the same old cabal: tired and haggard looking political faces with the same political script.
Kenyans and people the world over love change. They love and are ready to embrace new faces and ooh yes, they love change makers. Human beings have a certain proclivity for change and that is explained by psychology and is part of human nature.
What Cord needs Mr. Owalo is a complete renewal and not a still birth. Chances that a premature baby will survive are sometimes nigh. Cord needs a fresh coat of paint with a healthy flake of vanilla, magnolia, silk among others to give the party a good finish around the rugged edges and possibly a good gloss.
Until then, the party will continue getting serious drubbing at the polls.
Lastly, Thomas Watson Junior, a one-time head of American telecoms giant, IBM, proffered this advice on solving problems: He said “Solve it quickly. Solve it right or wrong. If you solve it wrong, it will come back and slap you in the face, and then you can solve it right. Lying dead in the water and doing nothing is comfortable because it is without risk, but it is an absolutely fatal way to manage a business".
That aptly describes the situation with Cord.
