I won't forsake Uhuru, Raila says as ODM firms up primaries plan

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho when they dropped their presidential bids in favour of their leader Raila Odinga during an  ODM National Governance Convention at Bomas of Kenya. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

When President Uhuru Kenyatta endorses ODM leader Raila Odinga’s presidential bid today, the chemistry between them will have triumphed.

Uhuru will, for the second time this week, be silencing critics who had said he was “cheating” Raila and stringing him along with the handshake cum Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process, and that the President was only using their truce to muzzle the opposition.

“Some people said Uhuru was cheating me and would abandon me, but I knew he would not, Raila told his party’s National Governing Council (NGC) yesterday, moments after they had endorsed him as their presidential flagbearer.

“Uhuru has never deviated from what we agreed,” he told the gathering at the Bomas’ Multipurpose Hall, Nairobi, as he heaped praises on the President.

All the while, he was rehashing the circumstances that led to the handshake and the process itself, one that critics have claimed has turned the government and opposition into bedfellows.

“There are allegations that the opposition is in government. Nothing can be further from the truth... you don’t have to criticise for the sake of criticising when you can offer constructive solutions,” he said.

Raila said he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the President that would enable them to bring the country together, adding that Uhuru keeping his word is testimony of the “deep conversations” they shared on the country’s future.

Things were different back then. The immediate plan was to stem the tension that resulted from the 2017 elections. Priorities have changed and the two leaders have focused on ensuring Raila becomes the next president.

Their resolutions include securing Uhuru’s legacy, a mission Raila plans to undertake by completing projects the President has started.

“My bond with President Kenyatta will not die with the elections. Elections are only going to strengthen it,” Raila, draping an orange scarf over his baroque-print silk shirt, told the NGC.

Uhuru and Raila’s partnership will be formalised in two weeks when the Azimio la Umoja will be launched, according to Suna East MP Junet Mohamed. ODM and Jubilee will hold their separate NDCs today before, convening for one joint session. The NDCs will ratify resolutions by their respective NGC meetings held yesterday.

“We will attend both and eventually make resolutions that will be taken to the other meeting, which will be the culmination of Azimio,” the former premier added, outlining a plan to firm up the coalition’s grassroots structures.

Direct tickets

Earlier, Raila presided over a session that endorsed him, which also forced him to see through changes ODM’s nomination rules to prioritise consensus and direct ticketing. While the vote for both resolutions was unanimous, amendments to the nomination rules caused disquiet.

Kisii Woman Rep Janet Ongera was the first to raise concern over the plan by the party to employ “scientific” means (opinion polls) to drive its selection process, arguing it would create room for bribery.

“We must be very specific and must look at whoever conducts the opinion polls because they could be influenced,” she said, a view shared by a second NGC member, stoking loud murmurs.

Seemingly alarmed that the disquiet would grow, Raila stood to assure ODM reaps fully in the forthcoming elections. “The opinion poll is very scientific… if parties don’t agree with the consensus and direct ticketing, we will resort to the delegates system and universal suffrage,” he said.

His remarks followed similar assurances by party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna. “Any system of nomination that the party adopts will ensure it wins the seats. It will be foolhardy to think that you can mess with science and think you will win. If you manipulate the process you are shooting yourself in the foot,” Sifuna said.

Junet had said direct ticketing would save the party from the onslaught by fringe parties, which are promising aspirants “direct tickets.”

ODM chairperson John Mbadi had promised that the contentious issues would be ironed out in the plenary session that was scheduled for later on. Raila’s intervention rendered the plenary moot, and it was subsequently skipped.

Raila’s other task, overseeing the party’s nomination of a presidential candidate, did not excite passions. He was the man of the day and the NGC was merely rubber-stamping the resolutions of a NEC meeting on Thursday.

Party flag bearer

Only two aspirants, governors Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and Hassan Joho (Mombasa) had expressed interest in flying the party’s flag. They had ceded the chance to Raila beforehand and confirmed as much at yesterday’s NGC.

“You have been a father to me. I was raised well and, therefore, I wouldn’t compete with my father for anything,” Joho was the first to pull out of the race.

“This is the most obvious opportunity we have to clinch the presidency because we have support from regions that have never supported us,” Oparanya said.

Siaya Senator James Orengo said: “Raila’s presidency was inevitable and it is coming to pass… The celebration of Raila’s victory will not just be his, but Africa’s as well.”

And when he was handed the microphone to accept his assignment, Raila would claim that he had been reluctant to take a fifth stab at the presidency, stating Kenyans had nudged him on.