Nasa leader Raila Odinga (left) and President Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Opposition chief Raila Odinga is destined to offer yet another
“important direction” to his supporters tomorrow on the next cause of
action – a development he promises will ultimately change the dimension
of the political landscape of the country.
With
Mr Odinga playing cards close to his chest and his lieutenants staying
tight-lipped, details of the much anticipated pronouncement remain
unclear. His supporters in the National Super Alliance (Nasa) as well as
his key political rival President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee Party
fraternity remain just as anxious.
While
President Kenyatta is reportedly focused on the reconstitution of his
government following Thursday’s repeat poll boycotted by Mr Odinga,
multiple sources within Nasa and civil society have intimated to the
Sunday Nation that the opposition chief is on the contrary preparing his
team for another repeat election.
In an exclusive interview with the CNN on Friday, Mr Odinga appeared to hint on his Monday’s “important message” to Kenyans.
SHAMBOLIC
Terming
Thursday’s elections as shambolic and a mockery of Kenyan democracy,
the former Prime Minister said he was waiting for the “situation to calm
down” so that fresh and credible elections can be organised. Mr Odinga
partly touched on the same when he addressed supporters in Nairobi’s
Kibera constituency on Friday.
The
import of the Nasa leader’s sentiments is that the coalition will be
proceeding to the Supreme Court to challenge the exercise.
Although the coalition may not wish to directly contest Mr Kenyatta’s win, insiders within Nasa have confided to the Nation that they will be executing this plot via independent organisations or individuals.
In
fact Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo already gave away this secret – thanks to
his confession on Thursday evening at a press conference at Nairobi’s
Serena Hotel to the effect that Nasa was gathering evidence to present
before the Supreme Court. Already there are two cases before the Chief
Justice David Maraga-led court challenging the credibility of the repeat
poll by three voters represented by lawyers John Khaminwa and Harun
Ndubi and the second by activist Okiya Okoit Omtata. The latter
unsuccessfully vied for a senatorial seat in Busia County on a
Ford-Kenya party ticket.
CONSOLIDATE SUPPORT
On
his part, however, Mr Kenyatta plans to consolidate his support across
the country and secure his legacy during his second and last term in
office. Speaking to the media after casting his vote on Thursday, the
President said he would reach out to his rival Mr Odinga with a view of
working on modalities to unite the country.
Clearly
the two political leaders are pulling in different directions – thanks
to sharp differences in their priorities. This reality may be a pointer
to the fact that the just ended repeat polls mark the end of nothing but
the beginning of everything, in terms of renewed hostilities and
political battlefronts.
In
his characteristic proverbial and figurative language, Mr Odinga likens
the Jubilee Party to a domesticated cat that has become wild and which
must be killed. He accordingly offers many ways of skinning the “wild
cat”, one of which he claims will succeed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mr
Odinga still has unfinished political business and this is certainly
not the time for him to exit the political scene. In fact judging from
the parliamentary numbers that are heavily skewed in favour of the
President, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader has a huge task
of balancing the equation hopefully through pending petitions against
Jubilee Party allied legislators.
This
will not come easy as he must first pull off victory in the courts and
proceed to register victory at the ballot after marshalling support on
the ground.
As well as the President,
who has his legacy to think about once he is sworn in for a second
term, Mr Odinga too has political succession headaches to deal with – at
his local Nyanza region and national levels. The birth of a new baby –
National Resistance Movement (NRM) – is partly geared at achieving this
feat.
Nonetheless the idea of
NRM introduces new challenges and even confusion. Although Mr Odinga
says NRM is the transformed outfit of the Nasa coalition, these swift
changes in name begs some questions. Is the Odinga team officially
discarding the Nasa outfit? If this is the case, will it proceed to its
anticipated repeat polls as NRM? And is NRM an already registered entity
or is it just a vessel geared at defying government and pushing for a
political agenda?
NRM OUTFIT
Senior
constitutional lawyer Gabriel Mukele opines that the shift from Nasa to
NRM is bound to undermine Mr Odinga’s quest for the country’s top seat.
According to the ex-vice chairman of the now defunct Electoral
Commission of Kenya (ECK), the NRM outfit is not an appropriate vehicle
for Mr Odinga’s immediate goal to ascend to the presidency.
“Ideally
NRM disrupts Raila’s quest for the presidency. This is supposed to be a
continuous journey which kicked off at the ballot in August, and it is
on these grounds that the Nasa candidate ought to pursue his case.
Judges are bound to shy away from this new NRM idea,” says Mr Mukele.
Senate
Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen shares this view. NRM, he argues, is
legally an unknown entity to the electoral body and has neither a place
in the Kenyan elections nor business engaging the Independent Electoral
and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in any discussion. Coining the meaning
of NRM to “national rebel movement”, the Jubilee Party’s senior
political operative maintains that only Nasa is known to Kenyans.
However, Political Science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Dr George Katete, lauds the idea of a resistance movement.
However, Political Science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Dr George Katete, lauds the idea of a resistance movement.
REBELLION
According
to Katete, the notion behind the movement practically captures the dire
situation in the country where a section of Kenyans feel excluded from
the government of the day: “This is not about rebellion against the
government but rather a movement to resist continuous political and
social injustices and in particular the apparent profiling of an ethnic
community, whose members have been murdered in large numbers during this
electioneering period.”
Nairobi-based
lawyer, Harun Ndubi, projects that the courts will be swamped by a
series of litigations immediately the IEBC proclaims a winner.
Mr
Ndubi himself is representing three voters who are challenging the
legality and credibility of the Thursday polls. His case was destined
for hearing and determination on the eve of election day but flopped
owing to a quorum hitch on the Supreme Court bench.
LEGAL POSITION
“Over
and above the politicians’ partisan views and my own legal position
that the Thursday poll is invalid, there is need for an urgent sober
conversation on the way forward for our country. Judging from the
figures of the Thursday poll, for instance, Kenyatta is the legal
President but there is also Raila, who is the leader whom majority of
Kenyans listened to and kept away from the poll stations,” observes
Ndubi.
Noting that a government
derives legitimacy through the people, Ndubi opines that Mr Kenyatta
cannot solely symbolise national unity and must therefore come down and
dialogue with Mr Odinga so that both can work on an all inclusive
government. In the meantime, he says, the political and legal battle
shall continue to dominate the scene.
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