Kenyans Will Vote Change

Wuod Luo,

you have raised important political parameters in our multiethnic, multiparty democracy. I believe the Presidential nominees in the various parties are having nightmares in crafting a winning formula. ODM has declared its lineup.

Kibaki's party will announce its lineup (which it will never honour, anyway!). ODM-K has its lineup, too. Kibaki has his home crowd; Hon Odinga has his own home crowd; Kalozo has his Kamba crowd; I have heard that Kombo has his home crowd too. But that is where they end. Because there is only one VP post, none of the candidates can promise all the 42+ ethnicities the VP post. That is why it is a nightmarerish situation for the Wise Men and Wise Women of Kenyan politics.

The winning party will have to be that with a national outlook. Only ODM is national.

To look National, President Kibaki's is surrounding himself with quarelous group of Kibaki Friendly parties, each competing for attention. (But the Man from Othaya is not a good Promise-Keeper). The Orange fever is so strong that at high noon, the President, who should be wiser than most Kenyans, has found himself surrounded by unfaithful members of the GNU (Party) who are only awaiting the dissolution of Parliament so that they can cash their last ministerial cheques and head to ODM. This will happen in a short while. People like this Alila Ramogi (a later-day political pundit) had predicted an Orange fallout after the nomonation. But this Orange is Agwambo Magoro; it is a colossus. I must therefore eat my words: There can be no fallout because there is only one true Orange Party which the pollsters have rated as the party in the national majority's psyche. Moreover, the crystal readers are telling every contestant that Orange is the Party to head to. Why am I so certain? One, the old Jogoo, KANU, cannot regain its lost glory because it is a deserted homestead (Dala Gunda); The Mzee, the last head Jogoo, has left the homestead, and no woman listens to his words anymore; his sons are themselves a pale shadow of their Mzee. Second, DP, NARC-K are one thing, and are stuck with the "tribal tag" around Mt Kenya. FORD-K remains a largely Bungoma outfit. Most of the Anti-ODM leaders from Western Province are not speaking for their people. For them it is survival. Then there is the 25%-in-5-provinces Rule. Do I Read Stalemate? No. It cannot be. I am forgeting that Kenyan's have common national problems. Sure, they went to Kasarani a few days back, and nominated a capable man in Hon. Odinga who won 7 out od 8 provinces. Every Kenyan, irrespective of ethnicity, has some perilous life challenges. The average Kenyan mother regardless of tribe nurses her malaria-infected child with a wet piece of cloth because the tablet is too costly; most Kenyan's do not know what they will eat a month from today; most Kenyans have no clean source of water; most Kenyans have no access to nearby health facilities; most Kenyan's have no reliable roads; most kenyans cannot afford college and high school tuition. Yet they have had governments in the last 44 years.

Kenyans will rise above their ethnicities and vote for a man whose vision can "drag" them into the new Century, because they will vote for change and their futures.

Declaration: I am a very biased observer, and Pro-Change.

Joseph R. Alila
(Author: 1. The Wise One of Ramogiland 2. The Milayi Curse)