Raila returns to Kasarani to end 'kisirani'

Things went awry during the ODM primaries at Kasarani in 2014. [File, Standard]

By the time you read this, there is a great probability that Raila Odinga, the former Prime Minister and Opposition leader-turned-Handshake-dealmaker, will have displayed his trot dance — it remains constant, no matter the beat — at the Kasarani Stadium.

Kasarani? Someone might gasp. Yes, Kasarani. The same stadium where Raila, also known as Baba, faced a historic kisirani (grouse) in 2002, when independence-era party Kanu assembled to pick the candidate to succeed former President Daniel arap Moi.

Baba waited, alongside other Kanu honchos, for the much-anticipated anointing. Who among them would it be? Baba? Former VP Saitoti (now departed)? Former VP Kalonzo Musyoka? When the Man from Sacho rose to announce his pick, he thrust his finger in the direction of a lanky youth, who sprung to his feet flashing the one-finger Kanu salute in comic deference.

Times, indeed, have changed and, nearly 20 years on, it is Prezzo UK’s turn to anoint his successor. As far as we can tell, there’s only one candidate in Prezzo UK’s mind and that candidate is Baba.

So, what’s the big deal about the Kasarani assembly? Politics is the art of performance and Baba relishes his time in the spotlight.

He will most probably zoom into the stadium to the blasts of Bob Marley’s “One Love,” doing his predicable fox-trot, before bellowing out his all-time opener: “Hayawi, hayawi… Hayawi, hayawi…”

Most of Baba’s supporters know the response to this call. It simply means something that’s long-anticipated, always comes to pass. And what’s been the most anticipated announcement is not Baba’s presidential run in 2022. That’s already well known to most Kenyans.

It is not even about Prezzo UK’s support for Baba. That, too, is well documented; the latest voice to coalesce around a Baba presidency came mid-week, when tycoons affiliated with a lobby that backed Prezzo UK, the Mount Kenya Foundation, rallying behind him.

In that picture, which appeared in a major local publication, five names appear in the caption, though only four men appear in the photo frame. When you have more names than a picture can accommodate, you know you have a problem. But that’s not my problem.

What I find unsettling is that Baba is having no fun among these rich men! One wears a mask, so we can’t tell if he’s smiling; another wears a grimace. One man has a big grin. And Baba, with a flywhisk in hand, has a scowl on his shiny face.

For that reason alone, Baba can’t wait to tear away from these suffocating photo-ops and return to the masses. Only thence can he secure the liberty to dance and declare, in that raspy voice that seems to rouse fervent fervour among his supporters: “Hata hiyo Azimio la Umoja, itakuwa chama!” Please ignore the grammatical misnomers in the formulation, they will be drowned in the loud reggae! But there are other reasons that make Kasarani an interesting spectacle.

There is no doubt that Baba would like to quell the kisirani of Kasarani that blighted his path, nearly 20 years ago. And coming only two days before Prezzo UK makes his last Jamhuri Day address to the nation, Baba is offering himself as a presidential foil, a dress rehearsal for what he assumes, rightly or wrongly, is his rightful, future role.