If President William Ruto has his way, we will no
longer be referring to ODM leader Raila Odinga
as ‘former’ Prime Minister. We will be referring to
him as Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga.
This is
a fascinating development no one would have thought
possible even just a few months ago.
But the man with a record number of terms of
endearment among all notable leaders in Africa has
a history of surprising even his closest allies.
The most
recent example was the handshake of 2018 when no
one knew the now famous — or infamous handshake,
depending on who is describing it, was in the offing. That is fitting with the many terms of endearment
Raila has enjoyed over the years.
Not in any particular
order, there was Tinga, which simply means tractor.
Raila was branded this nickname in the 1990s when
he was the leader of the National Development Party,
an outfit whose slogan was Tinga.
Like a farm tractor
turning soil upside down and preparing ground for
planting, Raila merged NDP with Kanu to everyone’s
surprise and mostly chagrin, only to destroy Kanu. But
on the brighter side, this was only to prepare the country
for the end of Moi rule.
There is ample evidence this is what Raila is doing with
Kenya Kwanza with one difference, and what an irony
and that is, he is doing this with Ruto’s blessing and what
will emerge after the destruction of Kenya Kwanza will
not be the end of Ruto’s rule, but a continued Ruto rule
in the image of Raila.
In other words, we already know Ruto owes his stay
in office post-Gen Z — whatever you wish to call it — a
mini-revolt, an awakening, whatever that was, largely
to Raila.
Had the ODM leaders joined forces with the
Gen Z efforts — and assuming the two sides were able to
find common ground to effectively work together, Ruto
would have been chased out of State House begging the
question, would a Gachagua presidency been any better
given that scenario?
The answer is in the scenario itself, meaning there
would not have been a Gachagua presidency either
and it does not take a rocket scientist to surmise the
country would have been thrown into an unprecedented
situation likely worse than 2007, except the solution
would have been found locally.
It is likely that after balancing of those considerations
Raila decided to instead save Ruto from being hounded
out of office, in exchange for what he got, which is a
work in progress.
Before Tinga, there was Agwambo,
which is the oldest and most famous Raila nickname. The
nickname is a Luo word that roughly means ‘mystery’
or ‘unpredictable’.
The irony here is after all these years and even though
Raila has been unpredictable in certain circumstances,
like all politicians, one can easily predict in which
direction they’ll go in anything.
Again, there are certain
circumstances and situations where Raila ranks right up
there amongst the most unpredictable and this includes
the aforementioned handshake and even most recently,
Raila’s full embrace of Ruto. Then there is Baba.
Perhaps as a reflection of my age,
and perhaps my cultural background, and even though
Raila is someone I have known as a friend for more
than 22 years, I was a late convert to this one.
When
the term hit the public parlance as the 2022 campaigns
were heating up, I preferred to refer to him as Jakom in
appropriate settings, which is another one of his oldest
nicknames.
But in no time, I was also calling him Baba! Why not,
the man has a way of loosening even the most hardened,
save for characters who would remain unnamed and
hate him so much that it is unlikely there is anything
Raila would ever do to have them give up that hatred.
When certain politicians from the mountain started
calling Raila Baba, anyone keenly following would have
known that is time Raila knew he had the region by
the neck to do as he pleases. And right now, it seems that
is he simply laughing last as he helps Ruto get reelected
come 2027.
The US-based writer is a political commentator
