The pricey bride of the 2022 succession election is playing hard to get. The bride is understandably mean. The superior numbers behind the bride come with pride.
The owners of the bride won't countenance abuse. They don't want to be treated casually. They don't want to be boxed in a faction where negotiation is spited. They don't want to beg.
They want partnerships and respect. They want the courters to appreciate their value, and right to decide based on the maturity, dignity, integrity, record, viability, and ability of the potential bridegrooms.
The 2022 political 'ruracio' is like no other. Citizens of Mt Kenya know they don't have a strong presidential aspirant, who can sell beyond their ridges. The owners of the bride may settle for a presidential running mate, governor of Nairobi City County, and other stakes that match their value to the partnership.
ODM leader Raila Odinga, UDA leader William Ruto, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka have stepped forward.
Raila's strategy considers opinion elders, owners of capital, elected leaders and other ordinary voters. Ruto has invited first-term MPs and 'hustlers' for 'ruracio' in a community that values capital and seniority.
The owners of the bride know Kenya is bigger than the Mountain. They also know seduction is double-edged. Their presidential sons Jomo Kenyatta (1963-1978), Mwai Kibaki (2002-2012) and Uhuru Kenyatta (2013-2022) have played groom with other Kenyans for 35 of 60 years of Independence. The ball is on the other foot.
Ruto has camped on the Mountain for 10 years now, courting the bride. The courtship has been more intense during President Kenyatta's final term. So intense the groom suffers the delusion of being the bride's brother.
The conservative, especially those allied to the Mt Kenya Foundation, the club of tycoons, read contempt. The DP, they say, is treating the biological brothers of the bride with disdain.
Ruto's aspersions on Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi's intelligence and academic credentials, Kiambu Governor James Nyoro's sanity and political instinct, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui's foresight, or Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi's decision, have hurt the owners of the bride.
Spite of Second Liberation veteran Kiraitu's decision to support Raila has offended his supporters. Their feted governor is not a 'mjinga' or 'mtapeli'. They have always relied on Kiraitu for political direction.
Kiraitu, a minister in the Kibaki regime and an insider of the Kibaki System, is offended. The driver of the 'Mbas' party has never lost an election since 1992. He says he isn't about to miss the way.
Kiraitu has been forced to remind those with a poor grasp of history: He is a graduate of Havard University. The premier Ivy League US university does not admit 'wajinga'.
Kiraitu, alongside Raila, Paul Muite, Gitobu Imanyara and the late Kijana Wamalwa, counted among the 'Young Turks', who inspired the short-lived Forum for the Restoration of Democracy wave of the 1990s.
President Moi, and his protege William Ruto, were then rabidly anti-change. The apple, it seems, does not fall far from the tree. History is about to repeat itself.
The 'Young Turks' worked for the Second Liberation under the tutelage of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the original doyen of the opposition. There was also the rubble-rousing Martin Shikuku, Masinde Muliro, Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia.
The 'Young Turks' of 1992 are ready to give a transformative direction. Kiraitu's decision to align himself with Raila is not an accident, it's another convergence of history.
For the first time, voters and opinion shapers around Mt Kenya are playing the bride in a polity where they have been the seducers. The rubber is about to hit the road.
