On December 10, 2021, at the Azimio la Umoja convention, ODM chief Raila Odinga announced that his name will be on the ballot in 2022. The event was covered by every media house at their own cost. Nobody paid for it. The event received the best coverage.
On Saturday, UDA presidential aspirant William Ruto held a mega rally in Eldoret where thousands of his supporters from every nook and cranny thronged Eldoret Sports Club to listen to his speech. No single media house broadcasted the event live.
Ruto’s supporters had to rely on Facebook Live for information. As a result, Kenyans on social media asked a lot of questions as to why Raila was given special treatment by the media compared to Ruto, his closest challenger. Others speculated that Raila had a hand in the blackout, given the privileges he enjoys in government.
Raila is one of the opposition leaders who have suffered the highest degree of humiliation by the government of the day. I don’t think he can wish his worst enemy to go through what he has faced.
Democracy is anchored on the equality of citizens and the freedom to choose what to say, the political party to belong in and who to associate with. Democracy is not democracy without healthy competition.
The beauty of democracy is that it serves to showcase the unseen qualities and virtues of the competitors. There cannot be a game without healthy competition. As they say, it takes two to tango. In every competition, your competitor is a sine qua non to the success of the game.
Having suffered injustices, Raila should be at the forefront in ensuring the freedoms and values he fought for are honoured. It should not be seen that his competitors are suffering all manner of humiliations while he is enjoying state protection.
Otherwise, it will drip wrong assumptions, outright distortion of facts and misinterpretation. People will start thinking that he is using his friendship with the President to sabotage his opponents.
It is understandable that our democracy is still evolving. As a country, we are operating yet learning on the job. For our democratic journey to record growth and go a notch higher, we must respect the rule of law by respecting the rights of every citizen.
Raila, Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Gideon Moi are all Kenyans and must therefore be given a level playing field. It should not be seen that Raila is given special treatment compared to his opponents. It will be hypocritical of him to enjoy state protection while his opponents face humiliation by the same state.
To maintain and guard the freedoms that he suffered fighting for, Raila should be the one ensuring that his competitors are not directly or indirectly mistreated by the state. Otherwise, his silence will make nonsense of the effort he put to liberate the country.
It shouldn’t be seen that when members of UDA decamp to the Azimio, they are received with fanfare, canonised and given protection, even when they are not legally entitled to such perks, but when members of Azimio decamp to UDA, they are immediately demonised and harassed by DCI, EACC and KRA.
As a statesman, Raila has a chance to etch his name in silver, if not in gold, by defending the freedoms that he fought for.
Our Constitution sets out the principles of freedom, equality and justice without which a country would easily relapse to the Hobbesian state where life is short, nasty, solitary and brutish.
In a society where good is the enemy of better and better is the enemy of best, we must not fixate on the good and reject the better, or on the better and reject the best. Every Kenyan citizen must be treated equally.
Being the friend of the current authorities, Raila should ensure the presidential race is free and fair for all. Otherwise, he will give people a good reason to think that he is afraid of Ruto. He must ensure that the injustices he fought outside government are not befalling his opponents now that he is ‘in government’.
The writer sells bananas in the streets of Kisii town. [email protected]
