•Looking at the past between Jimi and Raila, I find them to have been fairly close.
•I am not seeing how it would be a real fire for the Orange party.
Businessman Jimi Wanjigi’s political machinations are a very friendly fire in my view. His actions mirror that of Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati who once sought to challenge Raila Odinga for the ODM party ticket.
Wanjigi, therefore, is another Simba Arati. His activities are just to show that there is democracy in the ODM party.
Apart from that, it looks like ODM is trying to mop up the mountain and they are using Wanjigi to mop up the mountain so that the voters there can feel that they are part of ODM.
The intention is to make ODM viewed as not just purely a Luo thing or a Luhya thing. So, if somebody like Wanjigi can come in and start projecting himself as an alternative leader, then ODM is seen as a national party.
Why say so? I am looking at the past between Wanjigi and Raila and I find them as having been fairly close. I am not seeing how it would be a real fire for the orange party.
The sentiment by ODM members to the effect that Wanjigi is not part of them is part of the politics. Otherwise, where is Wanjigi going? He has never been elected in any office. He has never been an MP. He is going nowhere and is simply doing politics of introduction into the arena.
Many are likely to ask what the tours and political activities by the businessman mean. In essence, he probably might be angling for something in the 2022 General Elections, but not the presidency.
The fear that his ambitions may be a threat to Raila’s candidature is neither here nor there. Raila is ODM and ODM is Raila. To get the gist of this, take the likes of Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya who is now almost like a spanner boy for Raila and yet he is supposedly a candidate for the ODM ticket.
The governor is openly a spanner boy for Raila. If he was a serious presidential aspirant then he could also be firing friendly salvos at Raila. Another one is Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho who is still holding on. When they hold on for long, they give Raila gravitas within Central, Western and the Coast. That is what the ODM leader needs.
The Maseno University Communication lecturer spoke to the Star