The question of whether Mt Kenya can support ODM leader Raila Odinga is an important one.
It is like asking, can Kikuyus act in a non-tribal fashion? The answer is yes, they can. They backed President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto. They backed former President Mwai Kibaki and Raila to vote for the current Constitution.
The elders visiting Bondo are more interested in creating an enabling environment for business and prosperity. It is not a hustler versus dynasty agenda. It is essentially a question of looking for who can create an enabling environment for business.
The Bondo visit is not just an indication that the mountain can support Raila, but a continuation of a long agenda that started in 2008 with the handshake between Kibaki and Raila.
Through it, a constitution was born and the nation was healed. After the 2013 experience, there was a need to bring the two handshakes together. The politics then could not allow that but we had an opportunity in 2018.
The Uhuru-Raila handshake was neither meant to leave Ruto out nor be a consolidation of an Uhuru-Raila card. It is a continuation of the Kikuyu agenda never again to be isolated on the basis of 41 against one.
Trust me, that agenda must be completed. The construct of 41 against one is genocide against the Mt Kenya people that took place in Kiambaa, Eldoret, and other places.
The current handshake is a Gema-Kavirondo handshake that goes beyond Raila's Luo base. We see him as the heir of Kijana Wamalwa in Western.
The elders visiting Bondo are calling him to not only unify Western Kenya but also the Gema nation and the whole nation at large. This is an agenda President Kenyatta will support.
The hustler nation does not embrace that agenda. Their scheme is different. They think they were short-circuited when Raila was PM and Musalia Mudavadi deputy PM. In 2013, they believed they must be naturally the heir to Uhuru. Therefore, the message they are sending to the grassroots is that they were cheated.
The wazees going to Bondo never promised they would hand over power to anybody. In any case there was a promise, what was the need for the Constitution?
By visiting Raila, the wazees are saying he has a historic mission to unite this country and realise an inclusive Kenya that Jaramogi and Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya and Daniel Moi championed. Let those feeling cagey about this read the full text.
The Murang'a County Elders Patron spoke to the Star
