This week has been very difficult for the NASA coalition. The leadership has had to ward off a series of onslaughts on its unity and strength.
Their resolve to remain a united outfit that can sustain a coordinated challenge to Jubilee dominance has been tested to the limit. While the ruling party was able to marshal its troops to push its parliamentary agenda successfully, the Opposition was struggling to convince their rank and file that everyone had access to their piece of pie.
There was loud grumbling and open disobedience of coalition instructions from the Minority leadership in Parliament. Parliament resumed business in the backdrop of accusations of betrayal from quarters close to the ‘People’s President’, Raila Odinga. His co-principals had spent the better part of early February explaining to their followers the reasons for not attending the swearing-in ceremony at Uhuru Park on January 30.
The NASA followers have largely dismissed the reasons proffered by the other Summit members as frivolous and, at best, lame excuses. The pent-up anger has not subsided nor ventilated and the disquiet has been palpable. But the Summit has put on a show of unity and tried to demonstrate commitment to their agenda of “electoral justice”.
However, objective conditions of politics do not support the desire of the NASA leaders to remain united and work together under the current circumstances. NASA has begun to suffer the effects of atrophy. The leaders are faced with the challenge of mobilising resources for their grandiose political enterprises, yet they are limited because of being out of government.
The resource reserve of the support base is now almost depleted, after the long-drawn-out electoral process. Many of the benefactors are also facing personal challenges in the form of election petitions and repayment of financial advances. The need to recoup investment is driving the base to fragmentation.
The internal NASA succession, together with the angling and positioning for the 2022 election, are also pushing each of the principals into separate corners. Each is retreating to their respective political houses for endorsement to run in 2022.
Jubilee Party has not spared the Opposition either. They have taken advantage of their internal challenges to exert maximum damage.
What’s more, NASA has lost vital international networks and thus has no Big Brother to intervene in their internal wrangles as well as intercede on their behalf.
The writer is a public policy analyst