By Michael Olual;
*For ten straight years. Let me start from there.
The man spent ten straight years behind bars, detained by a regime that raped and plundered. Some of us would urinate on our pants if we spent a day in police custody. But Raila braved ten torturous years, held in inhuman conditions because he stood for a better country.
*Greatness is earned. He has suffered for this country. He has lost close friends, he has lost a son. And of late, the boys who know nothing about the struggle teargased him. The gods are watching.
*In 2002, Kenya was on the brink. A dictatorship that had crippled us was threatening to go on. Raila stood up. He did not endorse himself. He was bigger than tribe. Kenya was bigger than his ego. The statesman passed the baton to Kibaki, even when he was clearly the more popular.
*Anyone who says Raila is part of the nation’s problem is blind to historical facts. They find bashing Raila the fashionable thing among people like Moses Kuria who are not fit to tie Raila’s shoes. The likes of Kuria are privileged children who can use the free space Raila created for them to abuse him. The gods are watching.
*For decades, Raila has charmed people, Luo and non-Luo. He is the epitome of a statesman. He has held people together, pulling crowds even at the twilight of his political career. He is ever relevant, and so has kept the fire burning. In politics, he is Amalinze the cat, whose back never touches the ground.
*Yesterday, Uhuru Park boiled over. It was not a movie. It was not idleness. It was the voice of a frustrated nation. It was the channel of pointing at the hope we still have. He should be in retirement. But he understands that the nation still needs him, and he is ready to defend it, even with his life.
*2017 is just around the bend. It will be the last gasp for the Langata strongman before he hangs his political boots. No, we should not give up. Raila Odinga has given his all for a better Kenya. We owe this nation a great president. He is not a god, so he has his his flaws. But any hope we have to take off is embodied by him. He’s still that enigma whose appeal, William Ruto cannot attain, even with three lives.
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