Azimio saboteurs belong in jail or Hollywood

If I were among the politicians or strategists who caused Azimio la Umoja coalition’s loss in 2022, I’d shut up and wait upon the Lord to forgive my sins or Lucifer to burn me to ashes.

Truth be said, it defies logic that anyone who participated in Raila Odinga’s campaign but failed to do their job properly, would resurface four years later to lecture us on how funds were looted and polling agents denied their pay. No one cares. That chapter is closed.

Yet the audacity with which barefaced senior Azimio officials have been bickering since last week over their goofs suggests guilt of untold proportions. Critically seen, they’re desperate for atonement. But no, not even social media smear or ‘twenging’ will redeem them.

Mark my word. Political elites who bungled Azimio’s bid and now plan to contest in 2027, whether for the first time or to defend their seats, are in for a rude shock. They’ll be dead meat before they see it coming. Mr Odinga’s followers will avenge. They will use the ballot to send every saboteur to political Siberia.

In my newsroom days, my editor often warned me that it never helps to pick a fight you can’t win. By dragging themselves back into the limelight, the Oscar-worthy political thespians who short-changed Baba have picked a fight with Wanjiku. It will be messy and noisy.

Personally, my anger rests on one thing. The mess in Azimio denied us a chance to have Ms Martha Karua as deputy president. Instead, we got a grumpy fellow who thought government was a tribal share-enterprise. Imagine missing Kenya’s Angela Markel moment!

A lot is at stake. I’ve written countless times about the looming voter apathy in Mr Odinga’s strongholds. In 2022, Kenya Kwanza ‘hero’ Wafula Chebukati said Mr Odinga got 6,942,930.

That was 48.85 per cent of the national tally. But in the cold dawn after the enigma’s death, marshalling even two million votes in 2027 from his Nyanza, Coast, Western, Nairobi and northern Kenya bedrock will take divine intervention. It will be akin to a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Still, don’t be surprised if thousands turn out to vote, driven purely by determination to punish politicians who cost Mr Odinga the presidency. As Baba’s birthday (he would have turned 81) was marked this week, raw emotions among supporters were hard to miss. To some, the saboteurs should be jailed.

On voter apathy, ODM should be losing sleep. Even if it sticks with UDA in 2027, the Orange party must end the bickering and convince its traditional supporters, through door-to-door lobbying, to vote. Otherwise, it will add no value to President William Ruto’s re-election bid under the broad-based alliance.

Granted, ODM can’t form government or even be meaningfully part of it if its strongholds stay home. Worse still, without numbers, the outfit will have no moral authority to negotiate with UDA going forward. Meanwhile, the idea of ODM leader Oburu Odinga running for president is deadwood.

What next? The ping-pong over Azimio’s 2022 loss must end. Also, ODM must also resist the temptation to oust Secretary General Edwin Sifuna. Despite his straight face and political controversies, Mr Sifuna has largely held the party together. Besides, if Mr Odinga could accommodate the Nairobi Senator, who are Dr Oginga or chairperson Gladys Wanga to even imagine pushing him out?

If removing Mr Sifuna is indeed top of the agenda, then his successor must not be chosen in haste. A party is only as strong or as weak as its secretary general. We expect ODM to convene a no-holds-barred delegates’ conference to identify who is truly capable of running it.

For now, the most plausible replacement for Mr Sifuna is Suba North MP Milly Odhiambo Mabona. The self-confessed ‘bad girl’ carries aura and gravitas. She hears no evil, sees no evil and lets nothing faze her.

On Tuesday, she bit the bullet and addressed a press conference to call for sobriety. According to her, the ongoing street honking will kill Baba’s party. ODM would do well to listen.

-The writer is a communications practitioner.