If justice and fairness had a place in electoral politics, Kalonzo Musyoka would be Raila Odinga's logical presidential running mate. But greed for power, a false sense of entitlement and ethnic number play make the Raila-Kalonzo pairing, for the third time, improbable.
Kalonzo and Raila have been teammates twice on the power trail. Twice they have come close to winning, were it not for the muddles of the electoral system.
Vested interests of the Deep State or the System have always placed hurdles ahead of the senior duo. The voyage to Canaan, aboard the defunct MV National Super Alliance, aborted because the System dumped crocodiles at the entrance to the promised land. Canaan was close in 2017 yet so far.
The same System messed up Raila and Kalonzo's presidential run in 2013.
Presidential election results during both bids, which ended up in the Supreme Court, were controversial. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, as president of the Supreme Court, dropped the presidential election petition of 2013 on account of 'technicalities'. The petitioners, the Supreme Court held, did not file their evidence within the 14-day window.
Public perception at the time was that the Supreme Court was compromised. The same court nullified the 2017 presidential election results because the process was fraudulent. It found the tallying faulty, and the numbers were not verifiable.
The electoral process was calibrated to achieve a specific result, which favoured the politically correct Jubilee duo of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.
Raila is running for president for the fifth time. His supporters want him to be the fifth president of Kenya. Hardened supporters say Raila has always sought the presidency. The presidency, they say, is now looking for Raila Odinga.
Raila is recharged and rebranded, with groundswell support from traditionally hostile quarters. The signs are favourable for a candidate who has always come close to winning, yet so far from the crown.
The possible entry of Central Kenya, or about 50 per cent of its vote, to the Raila column, comes with a caveat: Take the presidency, but give us the presidential running mate.
Forty or 50 per cent of Central Kenya's 8 million vote potential neutralises Kalonzo Musyoka's bloc of about 2,500,000.
The other horse in this two-way presidential race, Deputy President William Ruto is also salivating for the Central vote. The chips will fall once the running mate complexity is resolved for both sides.
Three politicians from Central Kenya have occupied the presidency cumulatively for 35 years. Leaving power, without a consolation prize, worries this 'vote-rich' community. A community that has always handled state power with a sense of entitlement.
This supremacy of numbers does not countenance justice. Superiority of numbers fortifies this claim to power, even if it's half-State House, through the DP or Raila's column.
Managerial experience defines Raila and Kalonzo's undeniable seniority. A paring of a former prime minister and a former vice president, with strong ethnic voting bases, to begin with, is a veritable combination. The two are also former Cabinet ministers, whose experiences spawn two presidencies.
Raila and Kalonzo's national vote spread, and name recognition, make a strong case for pairing. But not when the scramble for the Central Kenya vote has the potential to upset the equation.
Fairness takes a backseat. Winning is the driving motor of electoral politics. Kalonzo may understand this, but the citizens of the mountain, at least the radicalised, won't. They will, instead, vote for the side that guarantees halfway presidency.
Denial of a consolation prize is the excuse they need to be selfish with their votes.
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