RAILA ODINGA HAS NO BUSINESS BEING A KIKUYU ELDER NOW

By Jerry Okungu
Hargeisa, Somaliland
June 15, 2008

There are two sets of the children of the House of Mumbi. Some are more equal and more authentic than others. Obviously my college mate Esther Murigu, the new MP for Nyeri and my friend Muthui Kariuki are the more genuine children of Mumbi under the circumstances compared to the Kugurus, Njonjos and Kamarus of this world. Obviously in their mind of minds, the Kugurus and Njonjos of this world are the children of a lesser god who have no business inviting strangers to the royal house!

And what does it take to be the true son and daughter of Mumbi? You have to be an elected member of Parliament, possibly a cabinet minister no matter how green in politics and most importantly, one must be a blind supporter of the current regime to be able to stand up and defend the leadership of the house of Mumbi.

Right now the rage is that some three children of lesser gods dared to have lunch with Prime Minister Raila Odinga at a Luo joint in Nairobi that culminated in the threesome inviting him to the Ruringu Stadium, the seat of Gikuyu na Mumbi for a cultural coronation. And before Raila Odinga accepted the invitation, wagging tongues already went to town.

The truth is; these opponents of the function do not just have time for Njonjo, Kamaru and Kuguru as they claim. The target is Raila Odinga the man they would like to loathe to eternity in life and in death. Any reference to the characters of Njonjo and Kuguru is just but an excuse to allow them to disparage Raila Odinga, the man they dread most in Kenyan politics.

What is worrisome about the whole of this stinking affair is that the men and women at the forefront of this hate campaign are the younger generation that went to school just the other day; some of who even dated Luo men and women in their campus days! Instead of consulting the real Kikuyu elders like Waruru Kanja, Njenga Karume, Stanley Githunguri and a few remaining Kikuyu elders wise in the ways of their tribe; they have decided that all you need to be a serious Kikuyu elder is to be an elected MP or at worst a political hireling.

Should Raila Odinga go to Ruringu Stadium to be made a Kikuyu elder? Does Raila Odinga want to be a Kikuyu elder? What value would this gesture add to Raila’s political life? Will this gesture stop his haters from hating him more? Will it enhance his political clout? Can it make him win the 2012 presidential elections?
During the 2007 elections, Othaya town offered Raila Odinga and his ODM brigade the worst example of deep rooted negative ethnicity. An enraged kiosk owner refused to serve them tea in their campaign trail. As the physical attacks became imminent, he had to cut short his political programme for security reasons.

When the votes were finally counted, Mt. Kenya voted one of their own to a man.
Despite this poor performance by Raila Odinga in Central and Eastern Province, he still managed over 100 parliamentary seats as a single party against 43 parliamentary seats won by PNU’s affiliate parties.

Looked at another way, out of the eight provinces, 75% of them voted for Raila Odinga and his ODM party. The other 25% was shared by PNU, its affiliate parties, ODM-K of Kalonzo Musyoka and NARC of Charity Ngilu.

This scenario, which is likely to repeat itself unless Kikuyu chauvinists change tact, implies that making Raila Odinga a Kikuyu elder will not add much value to his political life if that is the incentive.

History has proved that one can become the President of the Republic of Kenya without the Kikuyu vote just like one can do the same without the Luo vote alone!. Daniel arap Moi won the presidency twice in 1992 and 1997 without the Kikuyu and Luo votes. This year, Mwai Kibaki is in a forced coalition government because he lost the elections despite the Kikuyu vote and every Kikuyu who is serious about the future of Kenya knows it.

In my heart of hearts, I know that Raila Odinga did not arrange for his son to get married to a Kikuyu girl in exchange for favors as some ethnic chauvinists would like us believe. The two lovebirds met on their own and only asked the two families for their consent. Any Kikuyu who didn’t like the arrangement had all the time to raise an objection.

Right now is not the time for the Prime Minister to go to Nyeri for a cultural event. There are 42 other tribes some of whom have already made him and other leaders their elders. To the best of my knowledge, no tribe in Kenya is superior to the others. If a section of Kikuyus feel very strongly about their animal skin, a walking stick and a spear let them stay with it and give it to one of their own.

More importantly. Now that a junior minister in the cabinet has taken it upon herself to threaten the life of the Prime Minister , should he dare step in Nyeri for the ceremony, the best is for Raila Odinga to give the ceremony a wide berth as obviously there is no decorum or protocol in this regime. Cabinet ministers who should show good examples are behaving like their own youth wingers.

jerryokungu@gmail.com
www.africanewsonline.blogspot.com