Odinga Must Go Down Fighting- David Otieno Sikuri (History and Political Science, Moi University)

A politician's most invaluable bequest to posterity is the ability to exit the main stage when it is time. Again, when the curtain finally comes down, the story should be recountable, sound and rich in nuttiness and human frailty. Such is the story that surrounds Raila Amolo odinga .I have never thought of him as exceptional in any respect, but my keen political eyes cannot overlook facts that speak for themselves. He's a politician in every sense of the word. A Luo who lionizes Raila is dismissed as a tribalist outright, but that doesn't in any way distort the truth if the lens in observation adopts a value-free, sanguine and scientific method. Today, I wish to state a case of democracy gone awry. The historical narrative of this man is intemperately in concert with that of Kenya, and to delink one from the other is really to advance a narrow, unintellectual line of self delusion. He describes himself deprecatingly as a selfless Kenyan, a common Kenyan. More often than not, he has fallen victim to personal failings, imperfections and schisms, indeed, he has even appeared to some, as a politically antagonistic tribal demigod. All these, I do not refute. Having tasted defeat thrice (genuine and orchestrated),he still refuses to hang his gloves up. While the peasantry in his hometurf is day by day growing agitatingly restless, he refuses to call it quits. Politically, what are his options?

History doesn't reward those who win the battles, but those who win the war. This man has always stood as an impregnable bulwark stemming the tide of societal injustices. He has even for some time become an embodiment of national unity and unity of the disenchanted and disenfranchised. In the midst of all these, the presidency remains disconcertingly elusive. Politically, his strategam has always fallen short of being schemingly meticulous; he still rides on, somehow. Power is where power goes and I can vouch for power, it never goes to any particular nation (tribe),at least not wholesomely. In a country of capitalist compradors, power is held and frugalized by the 'power elite' of all nations (tribes). The difference settles in when we crunch the numbers of Kikuyu, Luo, Kamba etc power elites. The greater the number of a tribe, the stronger its stranglehold on a nation-state.it doesn't make much of a difference to the wealthy because the wealthy merry the same. They defy social conventions and norms in similar fashion, much to the detriment of the peasantry. We are a country in transition from democratic formalism enroute to ideal democracy. In such a country, little things mean nothing at all or altogether too much. The populace in Luo-Nyanza and indeed zones sympathetic to Raila's bravery and stoicism are awakening to the rude reality that for him, dusk is fast approaching. While retirement remains the most efficacious option to his detractors, to me ,it would pass as a noble lie. You see, our history does not glorify or immortalize reactionaries. The fastest means to historical irrelevance would be to quit. However, if he ingenuously consolidates the remnants, the disparate and desperate leftovers, he can reposition his troops for a final onslaught. Go down fighting. Raila should go down fighting. I know winning will be a tall order, but for him to be enigmatically historicised, he must sanitize our democratic space. Couched in words of pragmatism, this is my irreducible minimum for him,Odinga must go down fighting.