Azimio la Umoja presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga is scheduled to travel to the US in April 22 for an official seven-day trip.
During the visit, Raila is expected to meet and greet Kenyans living in the US.
Not long ago, Deputy President William Ruto also visited America, where he also met a group of Kenyans in Washington, DC.
Although Raila’s trip is yet to take place, we can already identify similarities and differences in the two trips by the two leaders, who one will be sworn as the next president.
First, under US government policy, a visiting presidential candidate is accorded the same access to administration officials and members of congress as all other presidential candidates from their country who are serious enough to be accorded the access.
So, if Raila so chooses, he can request and have meetings with everyone that Ruto met while in Washington. However, given his elevated stature, it is easy to see why Raila will be given access and meet with officials and leaders Ruto could have only wished.
Second, while Ruto used the occasion of being in Washington to complain to the world that he had no confidence in electoral system and process, you can expect Raila not to make such a mistake.
Coming on the heels of disparaging remarks Ruto made about DRC that nearly caused a rift between the two countries, DP’s complaining about rigging in Kenya put his trip on the failure column.
Third, Ruto had somewhat important meetings in the US worth noting such as the one at State Department and the other with Governor of Nebraska Pete Ricketts. During the mitting with Ricketts, Ruto reiterated his commitment to ensuring the August polls are peaceful as he seeks to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This was an important pledge that you can expect Raila to make on this trip as he has always done.
The words and utterances of these two leaders and their actions is all that is needed to ensure we have peaceful elections. No one knows that better than Ruto, and many of us believe him when he says he will ensure we have a peaceful election.
However, as many of us have said and written going back to analyzing Jomo Kenyatta’s presidency, it is often not the leaders who cause harm, mayhem and murder but their minions. It is, therefore, critical that Raila and Ruto have in their inner core men and women dedicated to peace.
Fourth, Ruto met a relatively small group of Kenyans at a church in Maryland, while Raila is poised to meet more than 500 Kenyans expected to fill a presidential hall in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. According to the ODM leader’s office, the event is to showcase how those events should be done going forward.
Last, but not least, while Ruto is still learning diplomacy, Raila is a seasoned professional when it comes to international relations. He has been visiting the US and many other countries as a presidential candidate and as prime minister he needs no introduction.
If he were to be introduced, one will rightly say Raila is an international statesman, a leading Pan Africanist, and a leading global figure in the struggle for democracy, human rights and rule of law.
These are accolades that do not come overnight but after years of dedicated commitment to the cause that embodies each one of these accolades. Ruto was not and could not be introduced as such during his visit to the US. With time, he will but this is Raila’s moment.
Ruto would do good for the country if agrees and steps aside to seek the presidency another time or at least to lift the foot off the gas pedal and let the man have his moment on August 9, 2022.
Samuel Omwenga is a legal analyst and political commentator
