Dear Sifuna, do not fly too close to the sun, or too low

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna addresses Linda Mwanainchi rally at Mwangaza grounds in Kitale town on July 25, 2026. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

“My son, do not fly too low, because the sea will wet your wings and pull you down. And whatever you do, do not fly too high, because the sun will melt the wax, and then the wings will break apart.” — The Legend of Icarus.

These were the words of Daedalus to his son, Icarus, shortly before the two made a break from their island prison.

Daedalus had devised an escape by collecting birds' feathers and making wax from the honey on the island, and from these making two sets of wings for himself and his son.

Before jumping off the cliff to fly to freedom, Daedalus, well aware of the perils that lay ahead, and even more aware of the youthful excitement of the boy, Icarus, who was itching to jump right in and fly with the birds, issued his final instructions for the flight: stick to the middle.

And as one opinion poll after another puts Edwin Sifuna higher up on the list of favourite presidential candidates, this, perhaps, would be the same advice that the late Raila Odinga would give his political protégé, Edwin Sifuna, today.

Easily the greenhorn on the list of top presidential aspirants, Sifuna may be forgiven for feeling a little lost in the clouds—feeling like he is no longer Sifuna, the poor boy from Bungoma who is now talked about in the same breath as the President of the Republic of Kenya.

Yet, in this sphere of lost innocence, Sifuna must try his best to remain Sifuna, even as he strives to earn the title 'His Excellency Sifuna.' Icarus' troubles began when he suddenly started feeling like a god. Then he forgot that the wings he was flying on were made for him by someone else, and that they were made only of wax, and wax melts when exposed to extreme heat.

Sifuna must remember this as he continues to soar higher on every new opinion poll: that too much confidence, especially the confidence built by praise singers, can easily blind him to the realities that he must circumvent to get to the top.

No one is saying here that Sifuna must play second fiddle to other presidential aspirants-absolutely not! He must, by all means, play the game as an equal, but do so with moderation. As Daedalus said, so shall we say to Sifuna: Do not fall to the level of the other side of the Orange Democratic Movement that you walked away from-that would be flying too low.

At the same time, do not burn too much energy trying to play at the level of those who have been in this game longer than you—those who will want to wear you out by drawing you higher and higher, and get the last laugh when you wear out and come plunging down.

Something else—Sifuna, do you remember that day you flew into a burial somewhere in Mount Kenya, and how the former Deputy President told you to ditch that chopper? You still have not told us how you ended up with a chopper, or what madness drove you to climb into that thing—the graveyard in Kenya’s political history has several cases of men who would have become excellent presidents had they turned down a chopper ride.

Finally, Eddy, you must resist the temptation to make being President of Kenya an obsession. Indeed, our political history shows that fellows who wanted too badly to be presidents never became presidents: Jaramogi did not; his son Raila did not; Kenneth Matiba too, and many more.

On the contrary, those who were not initially obsessed with becoming president ended up there: Jomo with his rugged beard, Moi with his schoolteacher simplicity, and Kibaki quietly chewing his lips at the corner of a bar in Othaya- His successor, Uhuru, never thought he could be president before Moi plucked him from the middle of nowhere.

As for William, who, in their wildest dreams, would have imagined that a chicken trader would become President?

Learn from these great men's strengths and weaknesses.

- The writer is a media and public communications consultant. Email: [email protected]