Why there's more to Miguna Miguna's return than meets the eye

That Miguna Miguna's homecoming would happen during Ruto's administration was no secret.

His fiery tweets in which he invariably referred to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio leader Raila Odinga as despots while sparing Ruto such epithets indicated where his sympathies lay.

And it came to pass.

Lawyer Miguna Miguna addresses journalists at the JKIA in Nairobi shortly after arriving from Canada on October 20, 2022. [Kelly Ayodi, Standard]

The controversial inauguration was, therefore, not in the interest of Deputy President Wiliam Ruto. But that's water under the bridge.

After that, a sequence of events followed culminating in high-octane airport dramas as security men attempted to either bar Miguna Miguna from entering the country or bundle him into a waiting aircraft, hence the famous phrase "I'm not boarding".

But, again, that is history. The lawyer's triumphal return is laden with political significance.

Is president William Ruto employing the Machiavelian sleight of hand of bringing your friends close and real and potential enemies even closer? Not a far-fetched question considering the opposing political miens of the two men.

Contrary to the received opinion, President Ruto is not allergic to fire-breathing political rebels. He has brought under his fold, and to considerable political advantage, the Moses Kurias, Aisha Jumwas, Hassan Omars, and Mohamed Alis of this world.

File: NASA leader Raila Odinga after he was sworn in as the People's President by Miguna Miguna at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on Tuesday, January 30, 2018. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Could it be that the president has seen in Miguna Miguna a counterweight against his main political rival, Raila Odinga?

We don't know but Miguna Miguna has the gut, grit and tenacity to be a major political force provided he chooses his enemies, and therefore battles wisely.

With Raila ageing, as are governors James Orengo and Peter Anyang Nyong'o, the Luo nation is certainly in need of the next heavy lifters in the national political scene. A bill Miguna Miguna fits. How he goes about the job is a different matter.

The president is subtly telling the formidable Nyanza constituency he has found among its sons and daughters, one he can work with and, would they please support him.

It will therefore be no surprise if the lawyer is named to a public office. Whether the vintage rough-edged and highly self-disciplined Miguna Miguna will fit in Ruto's scheme of things remains to be seen.