I remember as though it was yesterday when in early 2008 I woke up to find splashed in the news that Kalonzo Musyoka, who was a presidential candidate, had decided to back President Mwai Kibaki in his disputed reelection.
This was, however, not an entirely surprising move for it was believed Kalonzo only vied for the presidency to deny Raila Odinga the votes to trounce Kibaki as he did.
The move also positioned him for the plum appointment as Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs, a move that was condemned by the opposition as the worst form of betrayal.
The move not only left the opposition to hang dry while attempting to legitimise Kibaki’s disputed declaration as president but also added fuel to an already burning country.
Kalonzo tried to justify the obviously selfish and unpatriotic moves by dismissing the widespread condemnation as unfairly targeting him for something he said he would do before the elections.
This confirmed Kalonzo, the self-confessed mtu wa kupitia katikati (passing through two people to get to where he wished to be) was only interested in landing the VP position.
None of his explanations worked as Kalonzo was seen as a traitor for a long time, at least among progressives who supported Raila and wanted the country to have open and transparent elections.
When the dust settled and we avoided a civil war, Kalonzo served as Vice President.
He did not accomplish much, other than keeping Raila in check in his role as Prime Minister, which appeared to be the then VP’s one and only assignment, often leading to awkward and at times comical protocol snafus.
When the 2010 referendum campaign got underway, those opposed to the draft constitution claimed Kalonzo was secretly opposing the draft, leading to a satirical comparison to a watermelon.
Fast forward to 2013, he sought forgiveness, and all was forgiven—at least enough to make him Raila’s running mate.
As one who had condemned him for the 2008 moves, I recall during the last day of campaigns, the team gathered at Ole Sereni hotel to wait for Raila.
In a brief chat with Kalonzo, he pulled from his pocket a newspaper cut-out of a caricature of him being grossly depicted negatively.
He was making the point that such kind of ugliness and meanness was not appropriate in civil society and those engaged in it in traditional and social media should cease.
I am not sure he knew I was a blogger, or he was just sharing the info. However, I told him I agreed and that he can check my blogs and social media posts and nowhere had I said anything means, just facts as I always do.
In a blog I posted after that chat, I implored Kenyans to forgive the man as many of us had and to focus on making sure we had elections befitting our nation.
Did we? That is a story for another day. For now, what matters is we can have credible elections where the majority elect the next President, which has been elusive.
That starts by having politicians like Kalonzo recognising that Raila has actually won the presidency in the past but denied it.
And if we are to heal the nation and forge forward as a better one, let the majority back him for him to finally get sworn in.
Kalonzo will be in good company to be among those supporting Raila and doing so will go a long way to erase his history above and position him to be president one day, God willing.
He will have to go past Ruto then, but it would be an easier task than doing otherwise.
Samuel Omwenga is a legal analyst and political commentator.
