It's intriguing just how there are parallels between the biblical story of Jeremiah the prophet of yore and the struggles of Raila the politician of today.
Jeremiah was called the ‘weeping prophet’ for having penned the Book of Lamentations — a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem attributable to miseries in connection with national sins and acts of God.
Raila has been mocked for being the ‘weeping politician’ as he often dons a white handkerchief with which he perpetually wipes tears from his left eye. It is a result of an ailment he suffered due to bad lighting during the nine years of solitary detention.
Quite literally Raila has been fighting for democracy and good governance in the country all his life and has constantly lamented about the various ills occasioned by bad leadership.
In 2013 when the neo-conservative Jubilee party ascended to power, a dark cloud of apprehension hung over the heads of the liberal pro-reformist Cord supporters.
Raila became an object of pity but he prophetically echoed the words of Jesus in Luke 23:28 to the women of Jerusalem who were sorrowful at his tribulations saying, "Do not weep for me; but weep for yourselves and for your children."
The 10 years of Jubilee administration have been poetic justice to the millions of its supporters who celebrated its triumph in the 2013 elections. The excesses of this administration in terms of corruption scandals, public debt, insecurity, unemployment, high cost of living and nepotism has been felt most by those who falsely feigned a superiority entitlement complex.
In 2022, Kenyans have a decisive moment of truth in selecting one citizen to be the 5th President and Commander in Chief. This is not a mundane task but a sacred calling requiring serious reflection and soul searching.
It is a decision that would set the sails for a journey of either restoration or further destruction. Just like Jeremiah’s Jerusalem, Raila’s Republic of Kenya has gone through so much trauma.
It includes tribalism, nepotism, corruption, bad governance, ethnic violence, political marginalisation, high cost of living, assassinations, human rights violations and youth unemployment.
It would take men of strength and valour like Jeremiah and Raila to speak out against society’s ills and advocate for restoration. This comes at a huge cost of risk of loss to property and life.
Jeremiah’s prophecies prompted plots against him with people unhappy that his messages would destabilise the idolatrous establishment. There were plots not just to kill him, but he was beaten and also put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin for a day — such humiliating treatment.
When Jeremiah complained to the Lord about this persecution, lamenting the travails and mockery that speaking God's word had caused him, he was told that the attacks on him will become worse.
Surprisingly, in Jeremiah 20:9 he recounts how, if he tries to shut God's word inside, it burns in his heart and he is unable to hold it in. That is speaking truth to power. Just like a quirk of fate, Raila’s tragic hero life experiences bear a resemblance to those of Jeremiah the prophet. He has been a pro-people fighter all his life despite the numerous odds that would make many of us quit altogether.
He has endured the frustration of his father, opposition doyen Oginga Odinga out of the Kenyatta I government; subjugation of family business interests; persecution or killing of political supporters; detention without trial for nine years with accompanied torture, cruel and degrading treatment.
He has also endured political exile; humiliating summary sacking of his spouse Ida Odinga from public service; political betrayal and sidelining by the NAK wing of the Kibaki administration in 2002; loss of political support for championing Mau forest reclamation; 2005 sacking from a Narc government he passionately campaigned for.
Raila has further endured ethnic vilification and profiling; a stolen 2007 election victory; killing of supporters in the 2008 post-election violence; loss of 2013 and 2017 presidential elections due to technologically manipulated results transmission system.
Further he was denied freedom of assembly and political gathering in 2017 upon arrival from the US through brutal police blockade; the ignominy of a mock presidential swearing-in and the loss of a dear son through sudden death.
Despite all these tragic, heart-wrenching episodes in his political journey, Raila the Enigma has never wavered from the dream of the founding fathers — a prosperous, united and economically developed Kenyan nation.
Even in the darkest of such moments Raila, like the prophet Jeremiah before him, has borne the yoke of the Kenyan people’s struggles for an equitable and just society.
He has continued to speak hope for the people: and holding out the promise of a better day that would dawn for Kenyans.
However, just like Jeremiah’s prayer that Zion's reproach may be taken away in the repentance and recovery of the people, we the Kenyan people must also look into the past, learn from it and use the lessons to build better bridges for the future.
As it is the ambition of any politician to ascend to the pinnacle of state power, so it is with Raila Odinga. His fervent prayers would be that the Kenyan people make his ascension possible in the 2022 vote and give him an opportunity of proclaiming the words of Jesus in Luke 4:18-19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’s favour.”
This will only come to pass if Raila transitions from the Jeremiah that he was to a Nehemiah that he can be. In the Bible Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to the king. A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table.
On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person must have been regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold the position. He would guard against poison in the king's cup, and was sometimes required to swallow some of the drink before serving it.
His confidential relations with the king often gave him a position of great influence. Holders of the position were valued for their modesty, industry and courage.
Literally speaking, Raila has been a modern cup-bearer to the Uhuru administration through the Building Bridges Initiative; calming the tumultuous political terrain Uhuru found himself in after the rebellion by his deputy and erstwhile ally William Ruto.
The critical support Raila bestowed on Uhuru in his second term enabled him not just to attain critical numbers in Parliament to pass motions but to also implement several high impact infrastructural projects on his Big 4 agenda, covering affordable housing, universal healthcare, manufacturing, food security and education.
However, Raila must go beyond being a cup-bearer and take up the gauntlet to be the dreamer and builder that Nehemiah was.
Just as Nehemiah was appalled by the pathetic situation and distress of the remnants of Jews in Judah and the broken walls of Jerusalem, prompting him to ask the king for permission to return and rebuild the city.
So too Raila must re-visualise his mission for the Kenyan people as that of laying down the foundations for restoration of the Kenyan dream. To achieve this, Raila must now disengage from efforts to build a Uhuru legacy and craft his own Charter with the Kenyan people, pledging fidelity to the goals of prosperity for all.
Although Uhuru has repaid the age-old debt in equal measure by conscripting an array of political parties to support a Raila presidency under the banner of Azimio la Umoja, Raila must nevertheless conceptualise his own five-point transformational agenda should Kenyans trust him with their votes.
Like Nehemiah who took measures to rebuild the city, enforcing the cancellation of debts and assisting in promulgating laws that assisted him to govern for 12 years with justice, fairness and temerity, so Raila needs to be the bridge to the Kenya we want.
Such a charter must of necessity be hinged on the values of national unity and cohesion, zero tolerance to corruption and maladministration; good governance and accountability; fiscal prudence and sustainable public debt and employment and job creation.
Raila must declare fidelity to these five tenets, pledging that he is on the side of the Kenyan people. Just as the Reverend Martin Luther, who at the Diet of Worms, despite the obvious looming execution, refused to betray his reformist convictions declared, "Here I stand. I can do no other".
If Raila stands with the Kenyan people, they won’t forget and 2022 may just be his Jerusalema moment!
William Oketch is an Advocate of the High Court and Public Policy Analyst. [email protected]
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