The vitriol running on social media for three months now, and still counting, is astounding. The protestations are an opportunistic revision of Raila Odinga's history.
The sponsors of the vitriol are 2022 election losers, especially from the Orange Democratic Movement's key base. Some feel the former prime minister owed them a win and should guarantee them livelihoods.
The possibility of Raila continuing to be their benefactor is fading. The possibility of their rebound, under the shadows of the ODM leader, is dissipating.
There are two sides to the verbal anarchy by the people who have always sheltered under Raila's umbrage: They are eyeing a slice of the United Democratic Alliance carrot. They are spiting Raila to attract the attention of President William Ruto's three-month-old court.
The President, who is still craving legitimacy, may not be in a position to offend Raila. About 7 million Kenyans voted for Raila. About another 7 million voted for Ruto; 8 million registered voters absconded.
The traffickers of malice are angry, and probably hungry, like many Kenyans. But millions of hungry Kenyans have tempered their disappointment with caution and decency.
Some of the disappointed politicians, like lovers spurned, are revising their own opinions of their erstwhile benefactor. But sage wisdom discourages the audacious naiveté of spewing emotional nudity in front of a father figure, not least an iconic one.
There are two possible outcomes in an electoral contest: Winning or losing. The circumstances of winning or losing fade once the verdict is declared. There is no need to lock the stable once the horse has bolted.
The teams that entertained the world for a month, ending Sunday, in Qatar knew, like reasonable fans of the game do, that they could win or lose. Stoning Samba Boys in Brazil won't affect the outcome of the match. The anger of the fans doesn't matter anymore.
To revolt on behalf of an ignorant people, is like to set yourself on fire in order to light the way for a blind man.
The other post-2022 General Election losers are media houses that have always enjoyed Raila's audience-pulling streak. A Raila Odinga image on the front page of a newspaper, or voice on radio or TV, has guaranteed business for years.
These platforms, with leaking bottom lines, must diversify their audience-pulling ways to survive the economic turbulence.
Election loss, the circumstances notwithstanding, does not make Raila any less the persona he has always been. Not least the reason to revise his history.
When the impartial account of Raila and Kenya is written, it would replicate Egyptian Mohamed Karim's valour. When Mohamed Karim, the Egyptian who resisted Napoleon Bornapate's assault on Alexandria, was sentenced to death, the invader appealed to him:
"I have trouble executing a man who has valiantly defended his country. I do not wish history to retain the image of a person who stifles the impetus of the patriots that defend the integrity of their homeland. I promise you freedom if you pay 10,000 gold coins as compensation to my soldiers that the resistance killed."
Mohamed Karim replied: "I do not have the full amount requested on me, but I am indebted 100,000 pieces of gold by the merchants of Alexandria. They will pay this fine, so that I have my life saved."
Mohamed Karim was driven across Alexandria, in chains, in search of the sum on which his freedom depended. But, to his surprise, no merchant was on his side. Worse, the natives accused him of being a troublemaker, destroyer of property and undermining the economic vitality of Alexandria.
Napoleon, seeing the resignation of Karim's family, declared: "I will concede that the sentence of capital punishment be executed, not because you killed my soldiers, but for having fought for cowardly people, who care more about their businesses than about their integrity!"
Mohamed Rachid Rida, a Syrian-Arab reformer, said: "To revolt on behalf of an ignorant people, is like to set yourself on fire in order to light the way for a blind man."
