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An excited Raila Odinga fan based in Mombasa got in touch with me this morning and very excitedly revealed that a popular radio station on Mombasa did a call-in survey to measure the popularity of three of the leading presidential candidates, namely Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Mwai Kibaki. Raila got...
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Nothing wrong there. That man can be right that Raila Odinga is popular in Mombasa, as he is in every own that he travels, drawings crowds of people from all shades of life. But the thing is that without the unity they are chasing, his popularity will be useless. The recent by-election is Magarini can confirm that.
ReplyDeleteWe are now talking of five-and-a-half months to election and the ODM proponents are making inroads. That is good and it shows the maturity of the country along democratic lines.
Just ask the man and any other politician, why they do not agree with opinion polls but feel that the call-ins are a potent gauge of confirming one’s popularity.
Another thing, some time back, Kenneth Matiba addressed one of the biggest crowds t Uhuru Park before the 1992 first multi-party elections, but that did not confirm his popularity as the next president.
What remains of the Raila stuff at the moment are Ifs, Ifs and Ifs. If the elections are called today, If Raila was to stand with Kibaki, If raila was to be nominated as the ODM candidate and If Raila was to be given a chance.
That means about 92% of the voters in Mombasa would vote for Raila. It is coming days after 62% of Nairobi voters said they will vote for him (According to Classic fm) and to crown it all, 71%of all kenyans would vote for the man (according to raila07.com). Kwa kweli huyu jamaa alifanya Kibaki president. Si aseme tu Vikii tosha jameni?
ReplyDeleteNot just in Mombasa Chris. The whole country is excited about the prospects of a Raila presidency and the positive changes it portends.
ReplyDeleteCall in FM radio programs are the most open forum to gauge public mood. As it is, daily newspaper sales index, is now determined on whether Raila and/or ODM is on the cover. This is something Kwendo Opanga realised a long time ago, and that has made the Standard on Sunday a must read for most Kenyans. The Nairobi Star seems to have caught the bug too!!! And it is not because they have top political analysts in their columns. If we did a word count in this blog, and although Chris hates to admit it, all posts on Raila exceed all others. And that has made this blog experience phenomenal growth in traffic over the last one year.
As social democrats, we accommodate divergent views. We will democratically resist Moi's manouvers. Without blowing our own trumpets, Raila's win in ODM nominations is a foregone conclusion. At the main general election, current estimates puts Raila win against Kibaki at 60/35/5. 60% Raila, 30% Kibaki and 5% for the third force. This will be the news Kenyans will wake up to in January 2008 when Kivuitu announces the presidential results. But do I say....?