• Coupled with the emerging conversation on new political formations and alliances, ANC Party leader Musalia Mudavadi remains a constant denominator in all these conversations.
• Given his track record at the Treasury, many Kenyans would agree that he is the man this country needs to fix our economy.
Momentum is fast building towards next years’ general election.
Remarkably, narratives around the suggested constitutional amendments through the Building Bridges Initiative as the BBI and President Uhuru Kenyatta succession politics are taking centre stage.
Coupled with the emerging conversation on new political formations and alliances, ANC Party leader Musalia Mudavadi remains a constant denominator in all these conversations.
The One Kenya Alliance comprising of Mudavadi, Kanu’s Gideon Moi, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka is emerging as one of the alternative axis in the forthcoming presidential race.
The first quarter of 2021 carries unique lessons that will obviously shape our politics going forward.
This is so especially coming at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged economies globally. Mudavadi’s leadership style exudes hope for Kenya.
That even in the face of personal adversity, Kenyans should remain steadfast in confronting national challenges with the hope of a better tomorrow.
Mudavadi’s clarion call on the resuscitation of the economy remains Kenyans’ residual source of hope for better days ahead. He has maintained that he is ready for the task ahead.
Given his track record at the Treasury, many Kenyans would agree that he is the man this country needs to fix our economy.
As Finance minister in 1995, the Weekly Review described his performance as “the best fiscal achievement by a finance minister in decades.”
He rekindles fond memories of former President Mwai Kibaki’s good days associated with an upward economic trajectory.
For a man with such a track record, his humility remains his most admired virtue.
The recent appointment of Mudavadi’s ally Eric Simiyu Wafukho as Treasury CAS by President Kenyatta has been described as a sign of confidence in him.
This is buttressed by Uhuru’s rhetorical question during the funeral service of Mudavadi’s mother on whether it wasn’t time that the presidency is held by someone from another community other than the Kikuyu or the Kalenjin — who have led the country since independence in 1963.
Looking at the by-elections in Matungu, Kabuchai and Machakos, one can almost foretell the minds of the Kenyan voter.
The One Kenya Alliance swept out the Tangatanga brigade into the defeat bin. ODM was not spared in Matungu either.
A bitter take home for Tangatanga was that massive rallies do not necessarily translate into massive votes.
UDA, which has close links with Deputy President William Ruto, came out as just an infantile party whose popularity is largely an imagination of its overzealous promoters.
UDA’s loss in the Machakos senatorial election, the home of one of its founding members Johnston Muthama, was the clearest indication that Kenyans cannot be easily taken for a ride.
The Hustlers narrative is a perfect example of political tenderfoots desperate for political significance, at any cost. Their captain’s attempt to ride to the high office using inexpensive populism
was gravely flattened in the recent by-elections.
Coalitions such as the One Kenya Alliance will provide alternative leadership from the ever-belligerent Tangatanga - Kielewake/ODM axis.
Kenya has many leaders of great experience in public service and statecraft. Who never treated the nation to the kind of spectacle displayed by the Jubilee leadership. No government can be without lows.
However, President Kenyatta seems to have been left to carry the burden of the Jubilee low points alone.
The government’s “over-borrowing” is one of the major issues of concerns to the majority of Kenyans.
Mudavadi has been principally consistent in highlighting the need for prudent management of national resources. He has kept raising an alarm on the public debt issue.
Given chance he has indicated how he would restructure the national debt with a vision of stabilising the economy and offering the much-needed pathway to job creation, restoring investors’ confidence and reviving the manufacturing sector.
For such an experienced leader, Mudavadi is undoubtedly a major factor in the 2022 succession politics.
In him, Kenyans have a leader that would unite the nation to face the future fearlessly.
As the adage goes, good politics is good government — a government of the people, by the people and for the people. This is what Mudavadi is offering.
Simon Kamau is a lawyer