Did Raila have to defend himself against Kalonzo’s claims?

By Wanyonyi Wambilyanga

The ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps are red in tooth and claw and everyone is excitable at the epic battle that will roll out in August 4. With the campaigns under way, something unusual and funny happened last week. I was dismayed at Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s response to Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s allegations that he had hired goons to shout him down during last week’s ‘Yes’ rally at Uhuru Park.

There are many reasons why I abhorred the statement: It was a waste of time to even engage in such talk. For this reason I will dwell on two. Kalonzo brought all that mire upon himself. Politics is a dirty trade and when you want to be seen to be whiter than cotton the crowd will always throw mud at you. When everyone was making statements about the Proposed Constitution, Kalonzo never seemed to either understand the document or what he was saying.

He wanted to have his cake and still eat it. The people who are supporting the draft are not lesser Christians simply because the Church is on the other side. And the Church will remain the Church even if the faithful vote ‘Yes’. So Kalonzo should not have worried about what his ilk in the Church will think of him for saying ‘Yes’. After all, the VP does not support any issue the Church is saying ‘No’ to. That was mistake number one. The second one is that when the chairman of your party is traversing the country saying ‘No’ to what you are saying ‘Yes’ to it shows your flagship is not reading from the same script.

Worse, the leader of the ‘No’ camp purports to have all your support and even extends greetings to your constituents on your behalf. Regardless of where those greetings may have been manufactured, because of Kalonzo’s initial position, the crowd at any ‘Yes’ rally would not fight the temptation to boo him. Instead of making amends the VP is further isolating himself.

While the ‘Yes’ team has factions, it is the same voter they will all be preaching to. If Kalonzo organises a rally tomorrow at Uhuru Park will he get a sifted crowd that will listen, clap and award him a standing ovation every now and then? Where will Kalonzo go and meet a ‘Yes’ crowd that is not hostile? When you think about it, this means Kalonzo will have to be selective in who he talks to. Is this the stature of a Vice President with serious ambitions of becoming President? I wonder.

Kalonzo should be man enough to face these crowds and drive the point home that he is advocating for the ‘Yes’ side. When his lieutenants go astray he should be firm enough to chastise them. Chastisement does not involve dumping someone by the roadside or severing ties but telling them the party’s position as the leader and anything else will be their opinion.

To paraphrase Chinua Achebe, Kalonzo brought ant-infested faggots into his hut and should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit. The heckling may have been stage-managed but chances are that even in a solo campaign run Kalonzo will meet the same fellows. At this point it would be unwise for the VP to antagonise the electorate and his peers since having set his eyes on 2012 the dry runs will prove chaotic. As it stands, the VP has failed to whip his party and it took him forever to say where he stands on matters constitution.

Being lukewarm in politics has never endeared anyone to the electorate especially that from a different camp. It is equally naÔve for Kalonzo to think everyone in the ‘Yes’ camp supports him. Brickbats will be thrown his way and if what we were entertained to the other day, christened 25 years as Mwingi North MP, was anything to go by he should know how to outwit his detractor(s). Kalonzo has had his way all this time and a simple word of advice is: A goat that dies in a barn was not killed by hunger.

—The writer is Chief Sub Editor with The Standard (Weekend Editions)