For Opposition leader Raila Odinga, 2016 will be the year of challenges in which history will call on him to prove himself, unless of course he is forced or opts out of the big race.

This is because on account of age, it could be his last bid. But he also has to stoke the fires of Opposition against the incumbent and marshal national support behind him if he hopes to deal Jubilee a blow.

He will welcome 2016 riding high on the controversial wave of the missing Eurobond billions, whose use on infrastructure projects the Treasury has failed to explain.

Having successfully pressured a Cabinet Secretary to resignation, Raila will lead his troops in the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) in a legislative and political battle that if mishandled by the ruling Jubilee Coalition, may claim the top officials running the country’s public coffers.

The first task for the CORD leader will be to keep an eye on the reconstitution of the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Investment Committee in the National Assembly – two key committees that spearhead the oversight function on policy and expenditure in the Government.

Getting the mix of smart politicians and experienced lawmakers in these committees will boost the Opposition’s plan to keep the Government occupied with fire-fighting until the next General Election.

It is in the interest of the Opposition leader to manage the reconstitution of key parliamentary watchdog committees to ensure the oversight role in the Jubilee-dominated National Assembly is not compromised.

The CORD leader will also pursue the Okoa Kenya Bill to make sure it gets the nod to proceed to the county assemblies for a vote, so as to open the door for a referendum before the next polls.

At a time when even Jubilee has some MPs pushing for a referendum using the Opposition’s bill as a blueprint, Raila and his troops will be keen to latch onto that goodwill to push the Okoa Kenya Bill.

His own Orange Democratic Movement was a by-product of resentment and final humiliation of President Kibaki in a referendum.

The bill seeks to revise the Constitution to strengthen Devolution, push for more inclusion in Government and triple the allocation to the counties. For now, the signatures are being verified by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The pending impeachment threat against President Kenyatta in the National Assembly is also waiting in the wings.

Even though the Opposition is numerically inferior, getting that motion on the floor of the House will open the door for the lawmakers to debate the competence of the country’s Head of State.

This is the year the Opposition can take a go at the President if corruption, wastage, wrong policies and flouting of court orders continues.

Raila will also be forced to do some house-cleaning and house-keeping in the rank and file of the Opposition. There is a career-ending decision that is expected from the IEBC targeting co-principal Moses Wetang’ula with de-registration from the voters’ roll, and a possible blacklisting from the next General Election. That decision comes in January.

Still, Wetang’ula is battling claims of bribery from a British tobacco multinational.

As the Opposition reconstitutes its troops, these are some of the things it will be struggling to eliminate; the perception of double standards. If they have a person indicted of corruption, their moral authority maybe compromised unless the claims are dropped.

The hate-speech case against former Nairobi Mayor George Aladwa, the key Opposition mobiliser in Nairobi, will also gnaw at the conscience of the Opposition as it embraces 2016 and plans for the next polls.

Voter registration

Raila will also have a task to demonstrate to the country that aside from the traditional strongholds, he has recruited more supporters and gained more political grounds, even in Jubilee strongholds; more so after the poaching of MPs Joseph Nkaissery and Daniel Kazungu by the Government.

The by-elections are coming up on March 7. The key task for the Opposition leader is to consolidate the leadership of the ‘alternative government’ so that they all tame their egos and ambitions and come up with one leader to carry the flag of the Opposition.

 Already, ODM has carried out its grassroots elections and the target now is to field strong candidates in the primaries so that they clinch the seats at the ballot.

The Opposition will also be keen on the voter-registration process that the IEBC will be carrying out in 2016 so as to gain a footing in the number of voters in their strongholds.

This is in line with their initiative to make sure that everyone above 18 years has an Identity Card so that they have enough troops during the August 8, 2017 General Elections.

In Parliament, the ruling coalition and the Opposition have to work together to come up with laws to ensure the country meets the two-thirds gender rule.

The deadline for the laws with a constitutional deadline comes up in August and MPs have no excuse but to enact these laws or risk dissolution of Parliament.

Senate and the National Assembly also have to work on how to have an amicable relationship in the legislation process.