RAILA’S REVENGE

An ageing man with surprisingly black hair stands before a crowd. In the faces of the masses he sees a passionate plea. A plea for him to finally wear man’s trousers and cut his own path. His lips quiver, he starts speaking. Then he remembers he was once those people. He once wanted Mulu Mutisya to cut his own path. ‘I will never go back there,’ he swears. In defiance, he shrieks, ‘mimi ni mtu ya mkono.’ In five words he kills the dreams of a community.

In another life, in another land there’s another man. From his chopper, he sees people chanting. Chanting slogans he created. He was once those people. The idea of ever going back there disgusts him. Some people have been telling him to resign. Like his friend he swears never. He was born in abject poverty and hell be to anyone who wants to drag him down. He will enjoy all the comforts this world has to offer.

Then we have Raila. A man who fights a war he doesn’t have to. A man whose last name could have opened millions of doors worldwide. He was born to an aristocratic lineage with royalty blood cruising his veins. He could have chosen to live in opulence all his life, yet no one in the history of our country has been tortured liked the former premier. He suffered so we can smile. He traded his happiness so our mouths could know how to curve a smile.

Raila Odinga studied abroad when the world was shaping itself after World War 2. He went to East Germany during the cold war. The Soviet occupied territory was separated from West Germany. He studied at the Technical School in Magdeburg. He was studying and living in a country that was on the bridge of collapse. He might have wondered how a country that was so prosperous a few years ago could be in such deplorable condition. Having a Kenyan passport, it means he would sneak into West Germany and bring back well needed supplies for his friends. Many years later on 12th June 1987 when US President said, “If you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev…Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” no one in this country fully understood the plea like Raila Odinga.

When Raila came back to the country he was a changed man. He never took his freedom for granted. He never wanted Kenya to go the East German way. With that resolve came a lifetime of struggle for new independence and freedom for Kenyans.

Raila would get his first government job as one of the founders of Kenya Bureau of Standards. This was a man who was not shy of working for little or no pay. When people refused to apply for the job citing lower salaries, Raila applied for the job himself. “We produced this as a joint effort on the basis of what we had learned in London. It covered how standards should be written, what they should contain, the constitution of committees, how stakeholders should be selected, what problems standards were meant to solve, how useful standards would be to industry, how to identify the actual content of standards and the critical selections of any standard devised,” Odinga recalled in later interview.

Raila was forced to leave his job as university lecturer because the government did not like his involvement in liberation of the country. In fact everyone in the Oginga family could not secure a government job. The private sector feared employing them to avoid the wrath of the government. Raila had enough, he decided to vie for Langata Parliamentary seat. Politics was the only place the government could not bar him from participating. He would win the 1992 elections and for two years, Kenya would witness father and son share same floor in parliament.

When Raila became Prime Minister after the disputed 2007 elections, many expected him to become the president in five years time. Raila would sacrifice Rift Valley votes by protecting the Mau Forest. When Ruto said that there was no need to protect Mau Forest since rain came from God not trees the former premier stood firm. He protected the forest while at the same time pushing for protection of the evicted settlers. He was a man who cared for everybody.

20th October 2016 was a sad day for Raila Odinga. He looked at the stars and asked God if it was worth it. He tearfully wondered if his father had fought and died for nothing. During the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Machakos, the president and his deputy ignored and snubbed Oginga Odinga’s contribution to this country.

Two years later, the president and the former premier would agree to work together for peace and stability of the country. A man who was snubbed two years ago had direct access to State House. The Deputy President was certain to succeed Uhuru in 2022 but with Raila in the mix nothing was certain.

Today’s Mashujaa day in Kisii County is a sweet revenge for Raila. His father’s contribution recognized during the same event that he was ignored. The person who gleed as he was humiliated, squirming at the prospect of the future. For Raila, it’s the hour of reckoning.

Raila has already made peace with himself. Even if he doesn’t win the presidency, he will have helped make Kenya a better country. It’s a fight he was not forced into, it’s sacrifice he took willingly. Millions of patriotic Kenyans thank him for his service.