By Toka Akhabele
I was here in 1992. I witnessed the first multi-party elections after repeal of the infamous section 2(a) of the old constitution.
If you were not there, you did not experience what i am about to tell you.
There was an acrimony in Ford K pitying Raila Odinga and his father. Raila Odinga was the director of elections in a party his father was chairman and party leader. While Jaramogi was fielding candidates of his choice in a nomination, his own son was fielding rival candidates to oppose his father’s in their party nominations.
The matters boiled over in Alego Usonga. It is in this nominations that the clash between Jaramogi and his son became so evident that the late Henry Okullu had to warn the younger Odinga to respect his father.
So who still remembers Raila’s response? Mark you, it was in a press conference not just a road side declaration. To Raila, politics did not have father and son, infact politically his relation to his father was “a biological accident”.
Democracy is expensive. Democracy requires an extreme fidelity to its own tenets. Democracy calls for competition. In democracy, only those who finds a space deeper into the hearts of the masses carry the day.
The day Luo Nyanza bundled Orengo, Nyongo and Tuju out of parliament they did not care their development records; they just did it.
ODM can not purport to practice this democracy by locking some people out of it by account of relationships, religion or otherwise.
Rosemary is an Odinga. Politically speaking from the mouth of the enigma, she is a biologocal accident that ever happened in the Odinga family. Why should we attack Raila as if we need him to swallow his words to compell Rosemary to stop pursuing her ambitions?
If ODM stands for competitive bidding for nominations, why should Ken Okoth get nomination on a silver platter. The rules provide that he has to be in the nominations like Owalo and Rosemary. That is exactly what will be done in Emuhaya that produced the best performing MP. Dr. Ottichilo is not waiting to have the ticket handed over to him neither are his supporters mauling those other people laying claim to the seat.
What if you discovered that Rosemary is a rebel just like his father was? What should be there to represent Raila democratic record if we learnt from Rosemary that his father coersed her into quiting her ambition simply because she was product of his loins. As i said elsewhere, she is already out of his loins and can never return.
My take is that all those who want Kibra must go to nominations. Let the best person carry the mantle.
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