From the ‘one legged movement’, a loquacious court jester praising Coast and North Eastern residents for eschewing recent demos despite wallowing in poverty and unemployment, to Raila Odinga tweeting his displeasure with orders to shoot rather than go knock on the right door, there is never a dull moment in Kenya.
You would think it will stop there, but no, Raila calls a press conference at Orange House to lament his inability to reach Jacaranda gardens to join Kenyans in celebrating Saba Saba day because of police roadblocks. Really?
This is the same man who drove through police roadblocks, tear gas and water canons all the way from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the city centre in November 2017. The same man who evaded police and intelligence services to be sworn in as the People's President on January 30, 2018 at Uhuru Park.
Raila, fondly known as baba, appears to have been neutered. He chose to act the part of a 'Ngiri' (warthog) that he is so enamoured of, and walked into a cul de sac. He is caught between a rock and a hard place. The magic wand that enabled him to cast a spell on the older generation has lost its potency.
He doesn't call the shots anymore. There is a new sheriff in town who shoots first and asks questions later; Gen Z. Raila is at a loss how to deal with this cohort that effortlessly usurped his authority, and he never saw it coming.
Jolted out of complacency and now caught between two extremely antagonistic forces, baba must rue his uncanny ability to pull rabbits out of the hat. He has pulled one too many (handshakes), he got overconfident, but he was bound to run out of luck one day, which came sooner than might have been anticipated.
Seemingly, the court jester alluded to in the preamble believes poverty and unemployment are valid reasons for rebelling against authority. Why then did he give police officers carte blanche to shoot and kill unemployed, poverty-stricken youth who, despite being highly educated, can't fend for themselves?
Poverty
Who, for crying out loud, is to blame for the high levels of poverty in Kenya, but more specifically, in northern Kenya counties and the coast, a vital entry point into the country?
This speaks about years of marginalisation and unequal distribution of national resources that, for decades, has been pegged on a region's political orientation. That remains one of our biggest failures as a country
When Raila's ODM joined Kenya Kwanza to form the broad-based government after shortchanging partners in the Opposition, we were told it was for national unity. But, one wonders; how far have we gone in this quest? There can never be unity in a country driven by parochialism, and where, in many instances, one's last name carries more weight than a PhD degree.
Speaking of parochialism, there has been remarkable development in Raila's backyard since he donated 'experts' to Kenya Kwanza. John Mbadi, who once swore Kenya Kwanza smelt like a skunk, underwent a remarkable transformation that altered how his nose perceives smell after being appointed Treasury CS.
He has since released billions for projects in the larger Nyanza, which include the Sh287 million Awach water project, Sh15.2 million water projects in Suba South Constituency, Sh799.2 million to complete 137 energy projects and Sh5 billion for the Gogo hydro plant. Revival of the Muhoroni gas turbine is ongoing.
The Jaramogi Teaching and Referral Hospital was recently elevated to parastatal status. The Homa Bay pier was recently commissioned and the Homa Bay fish market opened. All these initiatives are welcome and contribute towards job creation.
The downside, however, is that this development is done at the expense of other regions, including northern Kenya and the coast. There is no reason the government cannot invest in making northern Kenya agriculturally productive.
Our leaders should stop wasting public funds sunning themselves on beaches in Dubai and spend that time bench-marking in Israel to find out how it reclaimed 90 per cent of its arid land to become agriculturally productive.
