Raila’s son goes against him and supports Ruto’s ally.

Raila Junior seems to have taken a path that does not tally with that of his father or ODM party. In second day running, Raila Junior has posted what could be termed as divergent views from that held by ODM.

It all started when a section of leaders from ODM led by minority whip in the national parliament clamored for the arrest of Kapseret MP Oscar Kipchumba Sudi. ODM senior members said that Sudi should be arrested for defamatory statement aimed at Mama Ngina Kenyatta the mother to President Uhuru Kenyatta. Some leaders even went ahead to say that DP Ruto should apologise on behalf of his allies. Junet Mohammed was ecstatic as he routinely threw jibes at former Majority Leader Senator Kipchumba Murkomen of Elgeyo Marakwet.

Raila Odinga Junior reminded Junet Mohammed the responsibility that comes with his post in parliament. He wrote on his Twitter account, “Actually @JunetMohamed as minority whip in the house and senior parliamentarian, I believe your position should be that even though you don’t necessarily agree with what @HonOscarSudi said you’ll defend his right to say it. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of our democracy!”

Many people on Twitter were caught off guard by this rebuke with majority praising Raila Odinga Junior for showing maturity and independence of thought. Others castigated him for holding a divergent view from ODM whose party leader is Raila Odinga.

It seems the post was not a fluke. Today Raila Junior posted again, ‘We as ODM need to find our way back to basics, we’re not just about private jets & slay queens whilst abusing rival politicians, we have a development agenda clearly outlined in our manifesto, let’s focus on service delivery, democratic space, protecting private citizen rights’.

Raila Junior has taken the fight away from an individual and he is now tasking ODM to rise above petty politics. He wants ODM to be distinguished from other parties by taking a higher moral path. It seems as a coded message to ODM leaders to stop cheering the misfortune of others and be accountable to the electorate.

It will be interesting to see if Edwina Sifuna the SG of ODM party will comment on this. It’s futile to hold one’s breath though. To verbally attack Raila Junior might cause unprecedented ripples.