Nasa’s vote of no confidence in Raila

Nasa flagbearer Raila Odinga is constantly trying to exude confidence about his chances in the upcoming presidential elections.

“We are not worried about Jubilee. We will win against Jubilee by a great margin,” Raila has said on a number of occasions.

However, his Nasa co-principals vehemently disagree with Raila’s confidence and have hedged their bets on their own alliance’s chances in the upcoming elections.

If Nasa wins in the August 8 polls, each of the five Nasa principals have been promised plum government positions, Raila will be president, Kalonzo will be deputy president, Moses Mudavadi will be the premier cabinet secretary, Moses Wetang’ula will be deputy premier cabinet secretary and Isaac Ruto will be the deputy premier cabinet secretary.

At least two of its principals, Wetang’ula and Ruto, obviously have such little confidence that Nasa will win and they will attain those positions, that they have ensured a back-up.

Even before the official campaign has even begun, they are in panic mode.Bungoma Senator Wetang’ula has shamefully decided to defend his seat after his party, Ford Kenya, handed him a direct ticket. Similarly, after great fanfare about joining the motley crew, Bomet Governor Ruto has still vowed to defend his seat in the Rift Valley.

By their actions, Wetang’ula and Ruto have expressed a massive vote of no confidence in Raila and Nasa’s chances in the elections. It also sends a message to Kenyans that Nasa is not about moving the country forward but about ensuring positions of power for its principals.If they were truly serious about Nasa being an agent of change, then they would devote all of their time and energies to convincing Kenyans of their plans rather than having to deal with local provincial issues.

In fact, in the unlikely situation that they would retain their seats and Raila wins the presidential elections, they would have to relinquish their posts to take on the executive positions, causing immediate by-elections which will cost the people of Bungoma and Bomet in particular and Kenyans in general even more money and headache.

Quite simply, their hearts are not invested enough in a Nasa success, only their own personal success.

This should tell us Kenyans that Nasa is a sham and despite Raila’s protestations of winning, even those closest to him do not believe him.This shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

Nasa has been a sham since its invention and as a formal political entity it does not even exist. There will be no mention of Nasa on any ballot paper in Kenya.It is merely a tool created by Mudavadi to remain relevant and have a position of power, as well as a necessity for Raila who desperately needed a new vehicle so he wouldn’t have to honor his promise to support Kalonzo as presidential candidate.

This was demonstrated aptly by the constant infighting within Nasa and its composite parties.

Lest we forget, only a month ago the four, and then five, principals couldn’t even agree on a time and place to meet and were constantly avoiding each other.They have yet to reveal any succinct platform or explain any concrete proposals. All Nasa have done so far is state that Uhuru and the Jubilee Party need to go and the country needs change.

Their sloganeering is as meaningless and empty as the name and composition of the alliance.

Now that Nasa has finally decided its line up and created unconstitutional positions for three of its five principals, at the cost of more of the taxpayers money, some have seen the writing on the wall and are already heading for the lifeboat of local elections.

As Nasa principals, Wetang’ula and Ruto are privy to internal polls and surveys about their chances of success at the presidential elections and have made their decisions accordingly.Raila will have seen exactly the same polls and surveys yet still tries to keep a brave face and talk of a win by a “great margin”.

If his own brothers are not buying what he is selling, then why on earth should the Kenyan people?