Unless they come together as Jubilee and Nasa coalitions to cobble a mega union, the current discussions by allies of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga remain mere talk and hollow sloganeering that has characterised everything the two have engaged in since the handshake.
Perhaps, they still believe that Kenyans can be easily hoodwinked by mere platitudes.
What will "rebranding" the same old foxes that have been exercising power change? Going about business as usual shows the two are so detached from reality on the ground.
While economy, security, health, integrity and justice remain the important things to the public right now, the duo thinks it's pontificating about unity and development, while sneakily engaging in political schemes, will go unnoticed.
That though is a debate for another day.
Today, my focus is on the Nasa "orphans” who for the umpteenth time are behaving as if they are in politics by accident.
The current publicity stunt about forming a grand coalition between Uhuru and Raila is a check against them. The aim is to cajole them into panic mode.
As long as they behave like puppets and marionettes of the two, they will remain vulnerable to political machination, arm-twisting and blackmail.
It is instructive to note that it is not the first time they are being pushed to the corner and being forced to jump headlong into the President's scheme of things.
Combining the Jubilee coalition that brings on board Gideon Moi's Kanu with the Nasa family seems to be the President's biggest task. Forget the Big Four agenda. The problem, at least for now, is that they remain elusive.
However, a curious thing that is testing the Nasa parties' tenacity and preparedness to compete in the next general election is their perceived disbelief in their individual capacity.
Today, even those who were gloating about their invincibility are furthering defeatist notions of "if we don't unite, then.... ".
In fact, the only thing that was uniting them was their fear of Deputy President William Ruto.
But such manufactured fear is now dissipating as reality dawns on some of them about how they occupy very relegated positions in the entire arrangement.
They were ignored when handshake and BBI were conceived and propelled.
They have been ignored in Parliament and now they are being ignored but expected to join the cue as they have done in the past. It is upon them to show their mettle, not the doublespeak that is, unfortunately, coming to define them. Politics is not for the faint-hearted
Odhiambo Jamwa is an economic and political commentator
