In the heat of the controversy within the original Ford over what method to use in picking the presidential candidate in readiness for the 1992 general election, firebrand politician and founder member Martin Shikuku, sneaked to State House and met President Daniel Moi.
As soon as the visit became public, Shikuku retorted that there was nothing really wrong with old friends meeting and eating ugali. Of course the opposition wasn’t buying the theory that only ugali was on the menu at the Moi-Shikuku meeting.
They believed they were proved right when Shikuku and Kenneth Matiba soon broke away to form Ford Asili, made up of people who had advocated universal suffrage in picking a presidential candidate. They left behind their comrades in the now-formed Ford Kenya, largely bringing together folks who had been convinced that an electoral college system was the better way to check against the tribal fault lines in Kenya.
In subsequent years, visits by opposition legislators to the House on the Hill were colloquially referred to simply as “eating ugali”.
Last week, nine legislators from Luoland ate ugali. I must admit that the first time I saw the picture, my first reaction was that there was simply no way a whopping nine MPs and one Senator would be defying Raila and their party position. This at the exact time the Azimio boss was conducting rallies across the country to question the legitimacy of the current regime.
In my view, this visit was either too naïve, too reckless, or would have to have been planned with the quiet approval of the ODM chief. After all, in the history of Luo politics, many have gone contrary to the perceived community position at different times, but nine at once was way above the usual number.
At any rate, Raila disabused any notions that they may have had even a little of his blessings, by dismissing the visit in rather strong terms. President William Ruto appears desperate to have a political foothold within the Luo community. Presumably, he needs a reliable and homogenous vote block as a standby countermeasure to the restless Kikuyu community, should the latter choose to bolt out of his alliance with them in 2027.
Unfortunately for him, the political path into the Luo heart is still firmly locked in the pockets of the Azimio chief. In recent weeks, the President has been to Luo nation promising goodies and getting a warm reception. This happened mostly because local governors, whose counties require a level of liaison with the national government to deliver to their people, had the blessings of their party boss to receive the President.
The ugali-eating MPs may have misinterpreted this to mean there had been a blanket decree to wipe out political boundaries. I am persuaded that part of the problem with eating this political ugali is that eaters hardly ever prepare their own narratives and proper speeches for the expected fallouts.
To be fair, politicians are not ones to hire expertise, preferring village cousins, wags and the odd witchdoctor. But you certainly don’t expect “I have no apologies to make for visiting the President” to be the language with which a legislator who has just dug himself into a hole expects to find his way back. Besides, stating that you have been to State House to get development for your people is an insult on the electors. Especially when those people are the Luo community, which has been a vanguard in the constitutional reforms that created counties, CDF, NGAAF and other development funds, to guard against State House ugali being used to dangle development as a currency to buy loyalty.
In any case, given that the people did not want to see these MPs after they visited the seat of power, it was inconceivable how the development they had gone to secure would reach their grassroots. It was instructive that among the most hard-hitting statements against the visit to State House came from Siaya Governor James Orengo and his Kisumu counterpart Anyang’ Nyong’o.
In the well-trodden path of perceived betrayal in the land, today’s MPs would do well to learn at the feet of both governors, who in the past attempted to chart their own paths, before seeing the light and returning to the fold and now ride the success of their more informed choices. Their opposite numbers, the ones who didn’t find their Road to Damascus, represented ably by former Rangwe MP Dr Shem Ochuodho and former Gem MP Joe Donde, among others, remain buried in political oblivion.
I understand the President’s own need to be seen hobnobbing with Luo MPs. Given the state largesse he has promised the region, and political realities of the coming years, he needs to at least have some elected leaders from the community, if for no other reason than to avoid feelings within his Kenya Kwanza formation that “you are giving them a lot, yet they all oppose you”.
Indeed, it is in the interest of the Luo community to have some eggs in the President’s basket, a sort of back channel to the powers that be, even as majority of its legislators continue to oppose the regime. As stated though, this would require skill and expert communication, away from the grandstanding of “no apologies to make”.
On a more interesting note, several political and media commentators declared Raila “finished” or “losing grip of his base” soon after the nine Luo leaders had eaten ugali with Ruto. These statements make me laugh all the time, because I have heard them since 1992, and in the vey next election, Raila usually chases the eventual winner to the finish line or, depending on who you ask, wins and gets robbed.
The phenomenon called Raila is married to the hearts of his voters, not as the individual, but as a symbol of the fight for justice, better living conditions, good governance and equality in sharing the national cake. To finish this phenomenon, you do not rob him of MPs and senators. You instead need to deliver these core desires to the population so as to make Raila irrelevant.
I have not seen a Kenyan regime with a plan to remedy the challenges facing the people, least of all this current one. For as long as these problems exist, and as long as Raila speaks out against them, he will have the people, while the MPs who make personal pilgrimages to State House will fall off the political scene one by one.
What the President has to understand is that all Kenyans need to eat ugali, not just a few MPs visiting him. At any rate, for the life of me, I can’t understand how the task of weakening the opposition, by poaching its MPs, can be such an important agenda of a regime within just the first months in power.
I believe someone should read the manifesto and see all the pending items, none of which includes weakening the opposition. A good reference point is Kibaki’s regime, widely celebrated as the perfect standard by this regime, and yet the old man never invited idle lawmakers for ugali during his reign.