By Dorcas S
A very prominent and wealthy politically-connected lawyer has apparently endorsed NASA’s Odinga/Musyoka ticket. If true, that endorsement is as audacious a move as I have seen this election cycle. Coming from someone who has benefited from their relationship with those close to or at the center of power, the endorsement is a window into the mood of the voters in Kenya.
The country is basically asking the question:
What the Hell Do We Have to Lose Voting for NASA?
Kenyans are pushing back against the narrative “better the devil you know than the ‘angel’ you don’t know” and the perverted “two thieves are better than five” exculpation.
The country is telling the pundits and “experts” that they are NOT looking for an “angel”: That they know what’s going on and will not be duped this time around. Kenyans realize that the moniker “angel” is one Jubilants have conveniently hoisted on Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka so as to tear them down: Think the drumbeat Republicans created about Barack Obama.
That he was the “Messiah”; supposedly “The One”.
Once the GOP created the patently dishonest “Messiah Complex” strawman about Barack Obama, they set about to tear him down by assigning all sorts of negative and false characterizations about the then-Junior Senator from Illinois (apologies to Gov. Mutua of Machakos). Obviously the ploy did not work – in part because Americans saw through the falsehoods about the man. They were also ready for change and eventually, individuals previously linked to the status quo started to peel away – first from Hillary Clinton (during the primaries) then from John McCain during the general elections.
That’s why this endorsement, while just one, is important.
It speaks to a beneficiary of the status quo who (a) has seen the writing on the wall, (b) is willing to cut through the lies and bullshit being said about Raila and the NASA principals, and even more importantly, (c) is willing bite the proverbial hand that feeds him!
In the dog-eat-dog society that is Kenya, this is momentous.
NASA has the momentum but even more telling, they are speaking to the issues that affect the voters.
You know that the national mood has shifted when a sitting African president offers to “go home if he loses the election” as Uhuru Kenyatta offered a couple of days ago.
The national mood has changed because after four years in power, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Jubilee cannot explain why a country that was once the #1 economy in the region has slipped to #2 and is struggling to fend off Tanzania AND Rwanda which is a decade removed from genocide.
The endorsement reflects disappointment at the reason why Kenyans are hungry even as their country falls further behind her neighbors:
Corruption and Incompetence – all predicated on a greedy duo who have catered more to their selfish personal and familial interests than to that of the country.
The endorsement is acceptance of an uncomfortable but true realization that Kenya belongs to everyone.
An erstwhile privileged benefactor of the status quo switching sides so late in the game is a stark but elemental recognition that the “tyranny of numbers” morphed into the “tyranny of the minority” enabling a select few to “eat meat” even as the majority barely have enough to eat.
And that was UNACCEPTABLE.
NASA is on the cusp of something historic.
All Raila and Kalonzo have to do is focus on the issues that speak to the concerns of everyday Kenyans while keeping their eye on the prize – August 8, 2017.
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