Raila should make friends, not foes in quest for power

 

Raila Odinga was here in Emanyulia a few days ago. The villagers have instructed me to ask him what he came to do. They assembled at the marketplace keen on a message of hope from the Son of the Bull. They were confounded to hear the ODM leader say things to the effect, “This place, Emanyulia, is home to one of my uncles, Barrack Muluka. PHOTO: COURTESY

I am here in the village, cavorting with my fellow villagers. We are engaged in hocus-pocus, consulting the gods and the spirits of the ancestors. If you have not understood our cosmology, the spirits are critical in our lives. That was why our own Elijah Masinde wa Nameme founded Dini Ya Misambwa. Misambwa are the spirits. Ask those who ignored the Misambwa man’s instructions about his final resting place. But let me say more on that some other day.

We are mourning with other villagers, across the country, the passing on of Waweru Mburu of Radio Citizen. We have learnt that Waweru succumbed to cancer, a few days ago. We are overwhelmed with a sense of loss and grief, but not despair. For the son of Mburu did not love despair. You recall his commanding voice as he commented on happenings in the country and beyond in the programme, “Yaliyotendeka.” And by the way, Waweru loved village folk to a fault. He always signed off with greetings to Kenyans in one village or the other, including those here in Emanyulia.

It is at once sad and ironic that Mburu succumbed to cancer. Time and again, he addressed scourges, and cancer in particular. He would wonder what should come of ordinary folk who cannot fly to other people’s lands for treatment. To quote him: “When Cabinet ministers fall sick, they fly to America, Europe and South Africa for treatment. This includes those responsible for health. What should happen to the rest of us? Why should we have a minister of Health who cannot be treated in our own hospitals? Why should an education minister tell us to take our children to public schools when his go to private academies in the UK?”

Mburu talked about the remove between the ordinary folks’ aspirations and the self-seeking pursuits of those in leadership. He reminded us that being a leader and occupying a position of leadership were two different things. Sometimes a total misfit occupies a position of leadership. This does not make him a leader. If you are not a horse, you don’t become one just because you find yourself in a stable. Yet we live with so many donkeys imagining they are horses. We put up with their folly and pay the price of flawed systems that get them there. And quite often, in any event, we consciously place donkeys in horse stables – so much the worse for us!

Raila Odinga was here in Emanyulia a few days ago. The villagers have instructed me to ask him what he came to do. They assembled at the marketplace keen on a message of hope from the Son of the Bull. They were confounded to hear the ODM leader say things to the effect, “This place, Emanyulia, is home to one of my uncles, Barrack Muluka. This is a very stupid man, who is permanently on my case. On radio, TV and in the daily press, he is always talking about Raila Odinga. Doesn’t he have anything better to do, this stupid man from Emanyulia? He says that Raila hapana tosha (Raila cannot fit the bill). Do you also think that Raila hapana tosha?”

We say here in Emanyulia that a man who abuses you in your home is deficient of tack, etiquette and common decency. He has benefited from unfortunate wisdom. No matter how much a man wrongs you, you don’t accost him in his home. You wait for him out there. We call it “okhusera” when you attack someone in his house. Even the ancestors are offended. Such are our standards. And so the villagers are asking the Son of the Bull to come back and apologise to them. For they consider that he abused the entire village. Whether he will heed and apologise is up to him. We talk of the village Hyena who greeted the Rock. When the Rock did not answer, Hyena told him, “Even if you ignore me, you have heard.”

Going forward, those visiting our village will do well to carry a relevant message. We thank the government for the gift of connection to electricity. But we are wondering why we have unending power outages. Has this Government hoodwinked us? Akuma Orende, the village philosopher, puts it this way, “This is the case of trying to feed a hundred people on a loaf meant for five people. This government is not generating any new power. It should tell us about power generation and not power connection. It should leave connection to us.” Think of that.

We will probably pose this question to President Kenyatta if he strays this way, someday. We will also ask him whether his government thinks that Emanyulia has no educated sons and daughters who can serve in his government. I have been tasked to ask him why we only see names from his village and that of his deputy whenever appointments are made. We are not taking lightly the slight on meat eating and saliva. I have been asked to invite the President to come here to explain why some people should eat meat while others only salivate. Is that what unity in his government is about?

Talking about saliva, the villagers say that Raila opens up far too many war fronts for someone salivating for the Big House on the Hill. When you eye that house, you do well to make friends, not adversaries. He is fighting Jubilee, the African Union, the World Bank, leaders in the East Africa region, the National Intelligence Service, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the media, Emanyulians and God knows whom else! Ask the Great War strategists in history. When going into combat, you build alliances first. All those eyeing 2017 will want to remember this. Meanwhile, may the Almighty rest Waweru Mburu’s soul in eternal peace. Amen.