AMENYA: At 82, Raila can still rescue Kenyans from Ruto in 2027

By Albert Amenya

I know I’ll be scoffed and branded a rebel but there is no gainsaying the ascendancy of the Kenya Kwanza Administration to the highest office in the land has brought untold deathly hardship on the people.

Before 2022, Kenyans were poised to express their umbrage against the inept Uhuru administration by voting for Williams Ruto; the man they now love to hate. They did it with dour determination and untenable zeal. 

As we inched closer to the D-day of elections in 2022, I hoped Kenyans would seize the opportunity to redirect the course of their history. 

I reminded the plebeians that they were at crossroads; Those who follow me on social media will remember me cautioning Kenyans that how they voted on August 9 would determine whether they were ready to leave Egypt for Canaan or stay in Egypt and continue to dine with the Pharaohs” I told Kenyans that voting for Raila Odinga would mean Leaving Egypt for Canaan and electing William Ruto would mean staying with the Pharaoh and continue being perpetual slaves in their own land. Unfortunately, they rejected the former and went for the latter.

The electoral umpire succumbed to the cacophony of voices from the Kenya Kwanza camp and caved in. People did not know that electing William Ruto as President was both “highly provocative” and a “setback for our democracy.” They rejected Baba Raila Odinga, the greatest governance think-thank and now they are crying. Kenyans will regret rejecting Raila Odinga but the fact remains that is a man you’ll not love to hate. Even his traducers confess that Raila has etched his name in the sands of time. Unlike the current President, he is a man who believes in the rectitude of judgment; good values moral virtues, and the righteousness of Principle and conduct.

When I tried saying that Raila is the right man to trust with the leadership of this country, I was under fire from William Ruto’s supporters. They fecklessly pelted oral stones at my person. I still insisted that as a nation, we owed Raila a huge debt of gratitude. Baba suffered a great deal because of this thankless nation. I advised Kenyans in my columns that it wouldn’t cost Kenyans a thing if we reward him with a five-year term but they wouldn’t listen. The same people who gave me deaf years are now crying. 

Even as they cry, I want to remind the electorate that Karma is a bitch and poetic justice is a bastard. They made a mistake that is now wrong-footing them. They are now realizing that the country can only progress with anybody but the person of William Ruto’s character at the helm of affairs. The man is hell-bent on truncating Kenya’s destiny because he lacks the Midas touch to manage and account for our commonwealth. 

Those who reject history, know not what they are talking about. History is bunk. It teaches us big lessons. Baba Raila has no reason to burden his mind because his leadership dispositions clearly reveal his legacy.  

Often people refer to the dark days of colonial dictatorship in this country. But today we have just entered the dark days of civilian dictatorship and I don’t know how many of us are ready for the ‘wonderful new things’ ahead.

I want my President to know that Corruption today is an industry under this administration. In fact, they don’t deny it. Government officials engage in it with impunity. Since this administration took over, the looters of the people’s commonwealth have been pardoned. The big corruption cases have been withdrawn. Our economy and political landscape have been handed over to lords of corruption. The way the President is calm about it, I can readily attest that a more sinister plot is afoot.

The conspiracy against this nation has not finally unfolded. What we have witnessed so far appears to be like child’s play compared to the written script from which this fraction has been unfurled. Kenyans are being set on the path of political and economic turmoil. 

A few individuals that have fraudulently commandeered the wealth of this rich nation of poor people. Today it is clear that this administration has done nothing but is doing everything to protect the thieves at the expense of the poor, weak and vulnerable in our nation.

William is presiding over the crippling of the nation’s economy by refusing to tackle massive corruption and unbridled theft. He has elevated the corruption heavyweights to de facto officials of state.

This is a government that watches while its officials plunder the nation’s treasury to near zero. This is an administration that has gone prodigal with our resources only to slam austerity measures on the poor masses at the slightest economic shocks. This is a government whose policies or lack of it have sufficiently hampered industrial growth and yet say it is providing jobs.

The inability or unwillingness of the Kenya Kwanza administration to checkmate the history of impunity for very serious crimes has emboldened corrupt state officers to continue to engage in acts inimical to the growth and development of our country. Kenya needed a President that would not only dismantle the architecture of impunity but also rebuild our society based on the rule of law. Otherwise, that is why we are suffering from the effects of impunity and corruption.  

If Ruto wants to run his administration effectively, he must reach out to Raila and consult him. Everyone agrees that Baba is not a soldier but he commands the psyche of battalion political soldiers across the nation. He is a quintessential human being. Those who suffer from intellectual catacomb may not appreciate his humanism but posterity is readily on his side nonetheless. 

Just like anyone else, Baba is a fallible human being with a remorseful mind. Raila is a man with one love and peace in his heart; it is his one love that neutralizes haters around him. His kind and loving heart is his biggest divine gift and providential asset. In many years to come, Raila will continue to be a nightmare to William Ruto if he deliberately refuses to reach out to him and make use of his innate intelligence. He shall continue to be a menace for those Kenya Kwanza apologists who cannot use their brains to solve common-sense problems to achieve common-sense solutions. 

Raila is an anti-corruption crusader and a freedom fighter. He has always fought for the progress of our nation. He hates corruption. He has always taken on both the high and mighty in society whenever he found that they or those they superintend have caught the corruption bug which manifests in indiscipline, wastage, illegality, and outright diversion of budgetary allocations. 

Baba has always voiced his opinions freely and granted that every Kenyan has an inalienable right to freedom of speech and expression. However, He always strives to get his facts right before opening his mouth to speak. Most of his commentaries are never complete without buttressing them with facts and figures. 

Kenya needs a man of Raila’s standing; a man with a pedigree of vision, courage, proactiveness and dependability. Baba has always been too determined to be defeated and too optimistic to be fearful but Kenyans have never cared. He has always displayed a rich pedigree with royal courage but plebeians never give a damn. Baba is a renowned anti-corruption crusader who has fought for the free speech and progress of this nation. Because of him, Kenyans can voice their opinions freely because their freedoms are safeguarded. 

This is the man that will steer this country in the right direction. Kenyans have another chance to right their 2022 wrongs. Ignore the character assailants who say age is not on his side. Those who say Raila Odinga will be too old and therefore should not be elected President should avail themselves of the lessons of history.

If South Africans considered Nelson Mandela to be 74 therefore not elect him, the country would not have been saved from disintegration. Is it not the late Mandela’s fertile wisdom that has guided and guarded the Rainbow Country in its journey to greatness and progress? During the economic depression, the people of America recalled 73-year-old Ronald Reagan to save them from its crippling effects.

Again when the United States was faced with a bitter war and economic depression, they sought solace in a retired General, Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower did not only help them win the war, but also returned the country to the path of progress. When France was bedeviled by a depressed economy and war, it found its own Moses in retired General Charles de Gaulle. The people of the United States thought Donald Trump would make America great and elected him President at the age of 70. To affirm their decision, they kicked out Trump and elected 78-year old Joe Biden. 

Above all and most importantly, former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade unsuccessfully vied for Presidency four times only to succeed after the fifth shot in 2000. It took the Senegalese Democratic Party Secretary-General 30 years to clinch the Presidency. He was re-elected in 2007 at the age of 82. If Kenyans decide to do the same as Senegalese, they can elect Raila Odinga in 2027 who will be 82 in 2027 just like Abdoulaye Wade was in 2007 when he was re-elected. If Raila wins the Presidency in 2027, it’d have taken him 31 years just like it took Abdoulaye Wade who first vied in 1978. 

Today, Kenya is malnourished. This nation is practically at war and the better qualified person and in the mould of Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower and General Charles de Gaulle to rescue us from economic malfeasance, war and corruption is Raila Odinga. 

There is no gainsaying that if Raila was President, he would bring a long a wealth of experience. Having fought for the second liberation of this nation, he possesses a ‘Tsunami’ of solutions in his fingertips that would help put our nation on the path of economic growth.

More than ever, Kenya need a visionary leader whose resilience in the face of obstacles and singularity of focus would make us great again. Raila Odinga represented the face of change but Kenyans ignored him. The man is widely acclaimed both locally and internationally because he possesses the Midas touch that would guarantee the speed our growth.

It saddens that Kenyans chose Pharaoh over Moses but I trust they’ll right their wrong in 2027 As Julio Caesar Said, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”