Raila has exposed himself through the 'handshake'

It looks like the Kenya Kwanza administration and its social media influencers and bloggers are, to use a popular expression in southern US, “ten toes in” supporting ODM leader Raila Odinga for the African Union Commission chairperson.

‘Ten toes in’ means fully committed to doing. This turn of events does not surprise me. The March 2018 “Handshake” between Raila and then-President Uhuru Kenyatta provided cover for the self-serving misdeeds of the 4th president’s administration.

I understand politics is the art of the possible. I further understand that actors in the arena rarely have permanent friends or enemies, just interests. However, a 180-degree flip on previously held core ideals and principles so one can pursue these interests, is worrisome.

Equally disconcerting is the fact that just as quickly as the Raila-inspired “maandamanos” or protests against Uhuru’s Jubilee started, they fizzled. Shortly thereafter, the two men shook hands and formed an alliance against Uhuru’s deputy president and current President William Ruto.

Raila’s abdication of the ideals he previously championed and used to rally millions to his side reflected the 180-degree flip. The former prime minister went from fighting corruption and abuse of public office to allying with Uhuru, someone he was on record blaming for either vice and whose family is the poster child for using the presidency as a conduit for self-enrichment.

The same appears to have happened with this year’s social media-inspired protests by Kenya’s Gen Z and Millennials. The seemingly well-organised, “leaderless” so-called “Days of Rage” against Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza regime eventually petered off into a whimper.

Previously incisive posts and commentaries categorically filleting the target-rich foibles of the fifth president and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, became banal platitudes and meaningless gripes interspersed with flat jokes about Manchester United and Arsenal of the English Premier League.

Dusting off playbooks from yesteryear, Ruto dismissed his first Cabinet only to replace them with variants of the same. Importantly, he folded some of his loudest critics into the second Cabinet and silenced them.

Ruto effectively pacified Raila by co-opting representatives of his Nyanza base into his second Cabinet. For good measure, his government threw its weight behind the former PM’s candidacy to replace Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat as chairperson of the AUC.

Given the preceding sequence of events, one must ask: How does this make Raila the ideal candidate to lead the African Union Commission?

One can draw a direct line linking Africa’s many problems to the suspect quality of its leadership. The continent’s challenges can be tied to the ease with which leaders such as Raila compromise ideals or principles they previously championed.

Post-independent Kenya’s problems of self-serving governance are tied to the country’s leadership. Since the early days, Raila has been an integral part of this leadership.

Many African leaders have compromised ideals they previously championed only to become lackeys or enablers of entities they previously fought or spoke out against.

Given this reality, why would Raila Amolo Odinga behave differently when “promoting and popularising the AU’s objectives?”

-The writer is a biotech professional and author