KALONZO-RAILA 2007: A WINNING TICKET!

Wapenda Kenya Wenzangu,

I am not sure if anybody has thought of this as a way forward in the coming election in Kenya. I will put a proposition.

Defeating Mwai Kibaki is a priority. The Kibaki administration has failed in the following key areas among others:

Tackling the corruption menace
Ensuring the personal security of Kenyans
Increasing employment opportunities for Kenyans
Discouraging tribalism and nepotism
If we should go by the Steadman and Republican Institute Polls, then Kibaki is going to handily win the presidency in 2007.

A ticket with Hon. Raila Odinga at its head will most likely lose purely on the ground of circumcision or lack thereof. I do not subscribe to the notion that this is enough to deny Raila the presidency of Kenya. We may intellectually debate why circumcision is irrelevant. We will conclude that it sure is irrelevant. However, the reality on the ground in many parts of Kenya is such that circumcision or lack thereof is a make-or-break political consideration. People all over Kenya see Raila as presidential material. However, they will withhold their vote from Raila purely over circumcision and his Luo ethnicity.

Other equally potent reasons why Raila at the head of the ticket stands to lose include:

A history of unstable and short-lived political alliances
Too many political enemies
Having laid down the case as to why Raila may not be elected President of Kenya as of now, may I suggest that Raila swallows his pride and runs as a running mate with Kalonzo Musyoka at the head of the ticket? The result will be that:

The question of Raila Odinga’s electability will be put to rest.
Raila is a good campaigner as long as he is campaigning for someone else.
The opposition vote will not be divided as it was in 1992 and 1997.
The synergy of Kalonzo and Raila’s strengths
May I further suggest that once Raila is VP of Kenya, he learns to be patient?
Instead of being on the move politically every one to two years, just like his father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, had been, if Raila bids his time, depicts loyalty and stays the course for five CONSECUTIVE years, Kenyans will learn to trust him. Kenyans will learn to discount his ethnicity and may well give him the nod in a near future election.

Just a proposition. What do you think?

Thanks.

Michoma Douglass Moenga