By Dorcas S
There is a very uncommon fear for the Odinga name. Before last week, the Mt. Kenya region was contented that this year would be the last time they’d be contending with Odingaism and, henceforth, the rest of the country will unquestioningly, unthinkingly toe the line.
Then, as lightning from the blue sky on a calm day, they receive the shocking news that Rosemary Odinga will be vying for the Kibra Constituency.
Then there is a fuss. Faces are long, eyes are sad, and hearts are unusually despondent. Suddenly, a cloud of sorrow and despondency hangs over the country. People weren’t that sad when Mugo Wa Wairimu, a person accused of sedating and raping his patients, announced his intentions to vie for Member of Parliament.
People weren’t that sad when Moses Kuria, a hateful tribal bigot, clinched victory as Member of Parliament somewhere in the much revered Mt. Kenya region. Why then are people despondent when the hardworking daughter of Odinga, who has her own hustle of snail business, who is struggling to chart her own path and carve her name on the scroll of history, is pursuing her dreams?
Look here, peeps, it would be totally unfair and unjust to clip Rosemary’s wings due to her father’s name. Her bid to contest for the Kibra Member of Parliament doesn’t preclude any other person from contesting for the same. Her foray into politics and intention to seek the ODM ticket does not guarantee she’ll get the nomination and Ken Okoth will be denied. People are busy cooking assumptions when there is no wrong at all.
To an average Jubilee sycophant, the intention of Rosemary Odinga to vie for the Kibra Member of Parliament is worse than Jubilee govt’s looting record, health crisis, white elephant projects, and land grabbing.
Many folks seem oblivious of the fact that Rose’s entry to politics isn’t a death knell to Ken Okoth’s political career. You seem to forget that Kenya, and more specifically, Kibra, is a democracy.
I do not think people really have a problem with her candidature, rather, her popularity: her popularity irks and infuriates her political nemeses, and they think she’ll come riding on her father’s horse to trump and destroy everything on the way. How naïve!
As Chinua Achebe said in A Man of the People ‘Let the eagle perch, and the hawk, too. That which says to the other DON’T, may its wing break!’
