By Michael Okoth
Rattled by DP William Ruto’s ill-timed confession (though the DP did it in his native Kalenjin dialect hoping perhaps that the Kalenjin journalists present would remain loyal and not broadcast it to the rest of us) that he’s being sponsored by Jubilee,my friend and our former Secretary General Ababu Namwamba is fighting back and breathing fire under the auspices of “Mulembe Consciousness” and “Western Renaissance”.
Of course Ababu has always been a smart guy and knows the Mulembe Nation would by large be very reluctant to agree to be politically mobilized,united and shepherded as one piece into the Jubilee Alliance.It’s very unfortunate that the cat is already out of the bag and Ruto has now handed Ababu the herculean task of having to wash off his Jubilee stains in the dirty Mulembe political waters.As to whether he’ll succeed in this washing,I don’t know.
Ababu’s “Third Force” political movement while sorely needed,especially by us young people who are fatigued by the endless feuds between and among the still dominant pre-independence political dynasties,is unlikely to succeed,at least not now when our politics still remains very much woven with raw ethnic suspicions and emotions carried over from the disagreements among our political ancestors.His timing for the so called “Third Force” was very poor especially now that the said dynasties and their unthinking and unwavering subjects are preparing for the mother of all face-offs,probably the last or the second last.
I’ve always admired Ababu,but I fear the young man from across my village back in Western Kenya has made a political blunder from which he may never recover from.Like others before him,I won’t be surprised if Ababu Namwamba dissipates himself from the political scene and into the pages of our history books.If his “Third Force” political escapades won’t finish him,the Jubilee tag will for no politician succeeds in establishing himself as a force with no solid home support.
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