WHY RAILA HAD TO FACE THE WRATH OF NYANZA

That the just concluded inconclusive party primaries conducted in the last week in the country were at best a sham and a direct affront to the rule of law, the integrity of the new constitutional dispensation in general and the spirit of devolution in particular, is a foregone conclusion.

From the shores of Lake Victoria in Nyanza, the ridges of the Great Rift Valley and the sloppy mountains of Central Province, the media was awash with reports of a democracy raped beyond measure and then held hostage at the whims of parochial political interests of the powers-that-be through an nomination process bungled with intention.

But of all the corners of the nation, Nyanza province single handedly took home the trophy as the province with the most reported cases of nomination malpractices. Of all the political parties, ODM emerged victorious as the most disorganized and a notorious rapist of the people’s voice. And of course Luo Nyanza bore the brunt of disgruntlement and public protests at this blatant disregard of the wishes of the voter. Being the uncontested stronghold of ODM as a party and Raila Odinga as a presidential contender, it thus goes without saying that the Prime Minister took the mantle as the presidential candidate whose image received the most scathing blame and backlash from his hitherto ardent followers from this region. But why was this so?

Like it or not, ODM is synonymous with Raila Odinga, just like TNA and URP are with Uhuru and Ruto respectively. Raila Odinga is the head and defacto leader of ODM. If you remove him from the helm of the party, the flames of ODM as we know it would slowly amber off to mere ashes. In effect, he has the reigns of the party in his hands. Being the one whose image crops into the mind whenever the party is mentioned, it’s only logical to expect his name and presidential ambitions to stand to suffer or gain from the tribulations and success stories of the party.

As the captain of the party, he is therefore personally charged with the mandate of charting the way forward and equally expected to be at the forefront in battling to steer the party in the direction of transparency and democracy. It behooves of him to rise to the occasion and endeavor to achieve feats matching the name and reputation he has sought to build as the flawless leader firmly in control - the ‘meupe kama pamba’ leader. Leaving the party rudderless to thaw perilously close to sinking in dangerous waters is therefore detrimental to him in person and his presidential bid.

When members of the party in Nyanza asked him to let them elect their own candidates of choice this time round – as opposed to the past where he would single-handedly handpick a candidate and declare him ‘fit’ – by no means did they imply to have him allow the party elections board to organize and then fail to preside over the shoddiest of nomination processes. Neither did they ask him to let his stooges nor close political attack-dogs to run roughshod over the nomination process and generally make a mockery of the will of the people.

While letting the people decide, he should have labored to ensure that the elections board organizes a credible process that would have furthered his seemingly last shot at the presidency. He cannot afford to adopt a laid-back approach (reserved for Kibaki) to leadership if he expects to be elected to manage the affairs of this nation. For it sends the wrong signals. if he appears unable to take control of a party, what about the challenging demands of a nation? Would he let sycophants generally run amok plundering the wealth of the nation with impunity in their wake? He is supposed to be the democratic leader firmly in charge.

Now, coming right in the wake of allegations and accusations that he was interfering in the nomination process – especially in Siaya and Kisumu counties where he had family relations and close political henchmen vying for elective county and senate seats, the Prime Minister is on record as having categorically assured the country that he had nothing to do with the fiasco and was ready to work with any candidate elected by the people.

What no one can ascertain for sure is whether or not the Prime Minister was directly involved in the underhanded manoeuvring and machinations that was witnessed. That is for him to know.

But whether he participated or not, what is for sure now is the public outcry and subsequent bashing the fiasco generated both on the mainstream and social media platforms and the subsequent perceived dent it has left on the credibility of Prime Minister, the ODM as a party and CORD as an alliance. In effect, ODM in particular and CORD in general has just handed its rivals in the TNA party and Jubilee coalition a round of lethal ammunition with which the rival camp is bound to gleefully seek to assassinate and possibly annihilate the reputation CORD alliance.

That ODM and Raila Odinga will have a daunting task in appeasing the population of Nyanza whose angry section has sworn to vent their ire by voting for the rival political camp cannot be gainsaid. As was evidenced in all the media platforms, furious members of the party have sworn to humiliate their leader and his perceived candidates of choice in the forthcoming general elections should he fail to intervene on the matter. Some went to the extent of publicly tearing their party membership cards while others chanted the ‘no Raila’ slogans. Whether this threat is carried to the full is another matter.