Kanu boys will trick Raila and betray his NASA power dream

NASA Principals Musalia Mudavadi (left) Raila Odinga (centre) Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula during the signing of Power sharing deal that will see them forge a common front against Jubilee Party in the coming election. PHOTO: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/STANDARD

Today, I want to ask a few harmless questions. If all is well in NASA, why are they taking so long to decide who their presidential candidate will be? Why is Raila Odinga receiving delegations on behalf of ODM and not NASA? Isn’t he acting like ODM is single, yet it is supposed to be married to NASA?

I am confident that there are some very good explanations but no one is giving them to us. Because of this mystery, some ‘dream interpreters’ have appointed themselves. They are leading us astray.

These speculators are unfairly theorising that Baba is scheming to short-change Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka. They are saying that Baba will betray his hapless co-principals. That he will slyly lead them to the slaughter like King Jehu of Israel. This King, in an attempt to rid Israel of idolatry, is said to have feigned worship of the idol Ba’al, and invited all worshipers to a ‘celebratory’ sacrifice in the temple. When the place was filled from wall to wall, he had the worshipers slain; down to the last man. The Good Book says that King Jehu had the temple burnt to the ground, and made it a latrine to this day. True Biblical story.

Let me tell you. If the house of NASA is going to be razed to the ground- it will not be Baba’s doing. The mistake that ‘pundits’ are making is that they are telling the NASA story as if it is an African fable- and Raila is the trickster. But this is guesswork. What they do not realise is that the real ‘Kaka Sunguras’ could be the ‘Kanu Boys’: Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moi’s former lawyer Moses Wetang’ula.

If there will be betrayal in NASA, it is Raila who should be suspicious of the rest of the squad. We know that politically, Kalonzo, Mudavadi and Wetang’ula are no match for Raila’s national experience. However, in this ‘NASA African folklore’, it is the mighty elephant, who could be tricked by the little lowly hare, tortoise and frog.

Firstly, this is not a war of physical might. It is a battle of wits. The tricksters feel assured of victory because they know that in any war, it is not enough even for an army of giant warriors to win without brains and strategy.

They know that, like the Spartan army of only 300 warriors, they can take on an infantry that is 10 times as large. So all they need to do is to fall back on their collective 50 years of wiggling their way into government. What Mudavadi and Kalonzo lack in votes and mobilisation ability, they make up for with a killer instinct for self preservation as taught by Moi.

We must not forget that both have occupied the second highest office of Vice President. They will betray Baba. This is what Moi taught them to do. And they are experts at it. Baba should therefore be afraid. Very afraid. So what could the lowly creatures in the NASA fable possibly do against the mighty elephant? There are three possibilities. The first, is to trick him into a tug of war against an animal that is his own size. But this animal will not be outside of NASA. It will be a rhino in the form of Kalonzo’s ego.

Musyoka’s inexplicable desire to be number one, by hook or crook, becomes the blind muscle force that Baba has to contend with. With that irrational ambition, Kalonzo will declare that he will run on his own, leaving bewildered Baba with one less voting block. Kalonzo’s plan would be to be single and available, so that Jubilee can approach him.

Possibility two is that the alliance was a plan by Mudavadi and Kalonzo to trap Raila. It was a ploy to invite Raila into the secured walls of NASA. It is like the Trojan Horse of the 12th Century Greeks.

The Greek warriors concealed themselves in a hollow wooden horse in order to enter Troy and open the city gates for the rest of the army to invade and destroy the city. Now that they have him where they want him, the treacherous duo will arm twist Baba into being their kingmaker. Raila will therefore be faced with the eleventh-hour dilemma of 2002: to say Musalia/Kalonzo tosha!

The third possibility would include a Wetang’ula strategy. How it would pan out is a still a mystery to me. If anyone can figure it out, let me know. Or better still, tell Wetang’ula himself. He needs it more. Although I doubt that he is capable of executing a political trick anyway.

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Raila Odinga NASA