As events in ODM-Kenya continue to unfold, it is becoming increasingly clear despite continued assurances from party officials that all is not well and that what has most probably happened here is an internal coup of sorts.
Yesterday virtually all the ODM bigwigs failed to show up for an ODM-Kenya press conference called by Raila Odinga at Serena Hotel, where they were all supposed to have cleared the air over the London fiasco. A visibly shaken Raila downplayed the development as a worried-looking Prof Anyang Nyon'go (who was one of the few senior officials present) looked on.
Increasingly evidence is emerging to support the information leaked to this blogger earlier and published here that Raila had already been agreed on as the party flag bearer by all except Kalonzo Musyoka. It seems that last Thursday, some crafty person took advantage of the fact that Raila was not in the country and did some major mischief that has seen most of the senior party officials gang up against Raila. Some of the presidential candidates that are staying away are probably neutral but are distancing themselves from the "fracas" until the dust settles.
Interestingly, at the time that the press conference was on, Kalonzo Musyoka was addressing a meeting in Eastleigh in Nairobi. Apart from Somalia refugees, the area, as well as neighboring Mathare has a very high population of Kambas, many of them hailing from Kitui and Kalonzo's Mwingi home district.
If it is indeed true that what has happened is a coup against Raila, then it will be interesting to see how many presidential aspirants end up standing to be counted on Kalonzo's side. As I said yesterday what we have here are coups similar to the ones we used to see within the Politburo and Kremlin at the height of Russian communism. The golden rule about these kind of coups is that you never show your preference until the victor clearly emerges. The other thing about these coups is that it is virtually impossible to trace their origins and main mastermind. However the name of one Daniel Aap Moi keeps on coming up in the whispers I am hearing going on around ODM-Kenya.
Real Gikuyu man answers lonely frustrated beauty who complained to Kumekucha about her lovers of the past.
Look here Chris and company. Moi doesnt have to be involved for the odm "luminaries" to see sense that Raila Odinga is the surest odm candidate to guarantee the government another five years in power. They are slowly coming to terms with the fact that only Kalonzo and possibly Uhuru can beat Kibaki.When Raila tells people to walk out one wonders who the hell he is in odm to tell people to quit. He said it rightly that ODM is bigger than him and so he can just take a walk if he doesnt agree with the rights of others not to go endorse him in London. Let him face the ballot and my bet is that he will emerge 4th after Kalonzo, Uhuru and Ruto in that order. Surely u do not have to plant fringe tribal chiefs as presidential candidates just to deny your opponenet votes from that area because u know he has the upper hand there. Ask Ruto,Mudavadi,Nyaga and balala what they are doing in the big scene when they actually should be busy trying to figure out how to win their parliamentary seats. They were planted there by Raila to tame Kalonzo but what we are seeing now is a typical case of the chickens coming home to roost. Conclusion: Raila is isolating himself and the sooner he matures politically the better.
ReplyDeleteThis is in response to the previous blogger who asserted that a Raila candidacy will hand Kibaki another five term. You sound like a scared NARC-Kenya supporter. Where have you ever heard of a player from one team telling the opponents which striker to field incase they wanted to win the match?
ReplyDeleteScared? You bet they are! First it was Rainbow Alliance, then LDP and then ODM dominating the political news and this blog. After the 2002 election and trashing of the MOU, there were those who thought that year 2007 would never come. Even after 2005 referendum defeat the entire government should have resigned, parliament desolved and a general election called to get a fresh mandate. But all that was swept under the carpet.
ReplyDeleteNow the time for reckoning is drawing closer, and GoK will do anything possible to scatter ODM unity and avoid facing one of the ODM candidates. Moi is being used as a pawn in this game, and they have him by the b**ls as he (Moi) knows he has to protect himself and cronies. I can assure, by this time next year, a good percentage of those powerbrokers will be jobless or in jail.
hey chris,
ReplyDeleteagain, brilliant analysis of the goings in the political scene at home. what really scares me right now is that, people have not yet realized that Raila might actually be the best candidate to lead Kenya.
It scared me to think that, he is actually the "cleanest" in terms of political dirt, scandal and corruption in comparison to the other candidates.
Its too bad that we have been so fragmented by the demon of tribe, that my fellow kikuyus will never accept him as the legitimate candidate.
when push comes to shove, Raila is a man worthy of the job.
copy fous
Push will never come to shove. He has to quit the race. He will embarass kenyans in front of stae guests with his smelly foreskin in state house. He has a duty to back a tribally correct candidate or go contest in Uganda where they also think sporting a foreskin is fashionable
ReplyDelete