As the late George Saitoti famously stated, there comes a time when the nation is greater than the individual. And great leaders appreciate this age-old adage. For former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the nation is the individual, and the individual’s interest must suffice for the nation, at all times.
His remarks this week about the CJ and Supreme Court ruling was misplaced. And it would appear that when he accepted the court’s intervention, he hoped with certainty that his erstwhile friend, CJ Mutunga would, by all means, declare him president.
I find Raila’s attack on the CJ disrespectful. To rubbish the CJ’s complaints about people accusing him of taking bribes and telling him that there are Kenyans more offended by his ruling suggests clearly he supports the accusations of bribery and influence on the Supreme Court.
It also suggests that the court’s ‘injustice’ decision to reject the so-called ‘800 pages of evidence’ was influenced and not based on legal judgement. His utterances give the social media green light to proceed with their offensive on Mutunga.
But even ordinary people know that when you present evidence to a court, you may not necessarily win as the court could rule that the evidence is insufficient or unreliable. What certainty does Raila have that if the Court admitted the ‘800 pages’ he would have succeeded? If after admitting that evidence, the court still upheld Uhuru’s election, will the former PM’s position change?
Mutunga has been so close to Raila for so long that some in Jubilee circles did not want him to preside over the petition, concerned about his impartiality.
Not only did Raila strongly vouch for the judge’s appointment, but he shared a long history of comradeship during their pro-democracy campaigns in the 1990s. Indeed, Mutunga even offered to serve as the chairman of the National Rainbow Coalition in 2002.
In 2007, Mutunga supported Raila’s bid for presidency arguing that, “Kenyans needed Raila as the president of this country”.
When the courts ruled on the March 4 elections date in July, last year, Raila rubbished the ruling as ‘fake’. Mutunga warned him then against disparaging the courts through utterances that reeked of “executive impunity” and that “undermine their authority”.
Barely a month earlier at a meeting with the CJ, Raila expressed confidence with the leadership of the Judiciary and stated, Iif Kenya had a Judiciary that enjoyed the trust and respect of the public, the 2007 post-election crisis would have turned very differently”. That trust and respect is now being eroded by the former PM himself.
He also wants the IEBC disbanded because they bungled the election; yet this was a Government agency directly under his “supervision and co-ordination”.
IEBC may have had problems in electronic transmission of results but about 90 per cent of Kenyans had confidence it would do a credible election, according to opinion polls just before the election. It is instructive that the former PM does not even appreciate international and local poll observers all cleared the election as credible.
The ground has shifted since the polls and Kenyans have ‘moved on’. Uhuru has even been invited to No 10 Downing Street next week and who knows when he will have tea in the White House.
Not that it matters anyway. You can play to people’s fantasies, but you cannot destroy all your bridges and expect to cross the river.
