There is no doubt NASA’s efforts to pick their flagbearer are in the homestretch.
What remains in doubt, however, is their ability and foresight to pick the right candidate. This decision will make the difference between staying in the opposition on the sidelines or crossing to over to government on August 8.
NASA’s self-imposed deadline of Thursday this week to announce their flagbearer comes hot on the heels of bungled primaries across all parties. This includes Jubilee’s hyped digitised members’ list-driven election — a fiasco never before seen in Kenyan party primaries.
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This is the right time to name the perfect candidate to take on Jubilee on at their weakest moment. When opposition parties were literally on fire during so-called nominations, Jubilee gloated at what seemed their lowest ebb.
Jungle law dictates should swiftly kick in for NASA and it should pounce on a limping Jubilee with a bombshell of a ticket.
NASA needs a fresh ticket, one that says ‘This is NASA, not Cord.’ It needs a ticket that demonstrates bold but calculated thinking, not a predictable, run-of-the-mill ticket.
I would advise a flagbearer and a running mate who can take advantage of renewed energy in opposition ranks brought on by ingenious thinking that gave birth to NASA and by Bomet Governor Rutto’s move to hive off a sizable chunk of Rift Valley votes. A flagbearer who would not evoke unreasonable fear among the current kleptocracy but stealthily slip behind their backs and pounce when the time is right.
And the right way to pounce is not to warn from rooftops before assuming power. The right way is to camouflage, get power and strike when the target is vulnerable.
The right candidate must be one who for the first time seizes 90-95 per cent of the populous Luhya vote because therein lies NASA’s landslide win.
This is not easy to pull off, but who says statecraft is a walk in the park? It is a journey littered with risks. NASA must take some calculated risk. It must not spend more time poring over figures of who got what, where in 2013 because that’s just why they were defeated in 2013. They were working with 2007 figures!
NASA has got to work with the current situation in which even Jubilee diehards are tired of UhuRuto duo and
yearning for a viable alternative.
The writer is a political
scientist.