Kalonzo has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as Raila, Ruto disappoint

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka during a past interview. [File, Standard]

Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is beginning to look good as possible president mainly because President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga look hazardous. The two ganged up to undermine the Gen Z uprising, which politically shook both men and to fix Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua through the impeachment saga which served to divert public attention from serious policy shortcomings. It enabled them to defend questionable Adani dealings a and vouched for Adani credibility even as information from India, Australia, and Europe pointed to Adani having serious integrity challenges. With Gachagua nursing impeachment wounds, no other likely contender comes close which leaves the Kalonzo free to prove his political mettle.

Kalonzo has to overcome previous disabilities, especially his image. Starting as a Mulu Mutisya protege, he has to come out of the image that he needs someone to hold his hand. He became, as Kanu organising Secretary, an effective Moi operative in the late 1980s and was accused of having a hand in the February 1989 Kiharu by-election disaster in which a candidate with 780 votes, Jidraph Mwangi Mweru, was declared the winner over Julius Gikonyo Kiano who had over 16,000 votes.