Kenyatta, Odinga roared and their sons are crowing

"History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man’ – Bysshe Shelley, English Poet (1792-1822)

By Gakuu Mathenge

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga could be dead but not the memories of their formidable political alliance and later rivalry.

Memories of their grand alliance and the bitter falling out are like old flames stoked by the political union between their scions: Separation in 2007 and reunion in last year under the banner of the Grand Coalition Government.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga (right) with his elder brother, Oburu, who is also Finance Assistant minister under Uhuru Kenyatta’s docket.

Kenyatta and Jaramogi remain strong family and leadership brands, their brushes always repainting the political landscape. Some of their scions’ political differences, just like their own, are among those that make Kenya a mosaic of different colours.

Their story as it was then dovetails into that of Kenya, the old men having brought Independence, the sons being key in reuniting the country after post-election violence.

While Kenyatta dropped the names Johnstone Kamau, and Odinga, the name Adonijah, their church going sons have no English or Christian names.

To date, historians have trouble determining who was greater than the other, whose ideas and actions had a greater impact on the birth of a nation, and who influenced the other more, if at all.

As the country prepares to mark the first anniversary of signing of the National Peace and Reconciliation Accord, the office of the Prime Minister and his two deputies will be in a spot, being the most drastic additions to the governance structure.

Little public interaction

As supervisor and co-ordinator of government functions, the Prime Minister keeps watch on all ministries. But despite protests the Grand Coalition experiment was not functioning well, the PM’s relationship with his two deputies is a study in a disjointed and hostile chain of command.

Like the founders of the nation, Jaramogi and Kenyatta, who fell out acrimoniously soon after gaining power, Raila and Uhuru make little pretence there is no love lost between them.

When the PM arrives from foreign trips, only ministers from Orange Democratic Movement, notably party chairman and Industrialisation Minister, Henry Kosgey, and Deputy Prime minister Musalia Mudavadi, usually show up at the airport to welcome him.

On foreign trips, sources say, there have been instances when protocol chiefs have been left at a loss as to how to treat the PM and his deputies, when their diaries clash. "I have seen it twice or so when the Prime Minister and Uhuru Kenyatta have been received separately when attending the same functions abroad, as if they were not members of the same delegation," a source said.

At home, there has been little public interaction between them, by way of meetings, delegation or joint functions. Last year, the PM attended two public functions in Uhuru’s central Kenya, which Uhuru skipped.

Uhuru and Mudavadi never set foot in certain parts of the country, with Uhuru largely keeping to the ‘PNU circuits’ and Mudavadi limiting his countryside tours to ‘ODM zones’.