Jubilee merger a new tool for political inclusion

I have listened to Opposition supporters and critics this week criticise the merger of Jubilee affiliate parties and wondered why they are panicking.

Both CORD and Amani coalitions sprung from their seats and were quick to react angrily to the political masterstroke that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Ruto pulled on Tuesday.

There was dishonesty among the Opposition ranks. If you find your opponent making all manner of mistakes, wouldn’t you rejoice at your near future prospects to beat him? Why would the Opposition be so outraged by Jubilee’s merger which has been done voluntarily?

CORD, for example, would have had a locus standi to express outrage if Jubilee had poached Ford Kenya or the Wiper Democratic Movement. But Jubilee is merging with parties, most of which ordinarily supported President Kenyatta in 2013.

If they are honest, CORD should have rejoiced now that the Jubilee merger is like the rope with which they will hang themselves in 2017. Far from it.

The opposition has realised the merger is leaving no room for a votes split, a scenario the Opposition would have embraced with alacrity.

The Jubilee merger has sent shockwaves within the width and breadth of this country’s political spectrum. I strongly believe CORD leader Raila Odinga would sleep like a baby if Ford Kenya and Wiper party announced they were folding up to form one party where he would be the automatic party leader.

However, this dream looks like it would not happen in the near future. In fact, in the foreseeable future, the CORD house will collapse. All indications are that the CORD parties are drifting further apart with ultimatums flying right and left.

The merger in a month’s time is the best thing that happened to Jubilee. Coming at a time several communities, such as the Maasai, visited President Kenyatta to welcome opposition sympathisers back to the fold, it indicates there will be more influx towards Jubilee than the opposition.

Jubilee now has a chance to craft a party structure that is inclusive of all community interests in the country. It is an opportune moment to help Jubilee shed the tag of a party that is supported by two communities. I always say two communities are never enough to raise the 6.5 million votes Jubilee garnered in 2013.

By the mere fact that parliamentary parties agreed to sacrifice their ambitions for the sake of national unity is in itself a laudable political move.

We must strive, in these times of ethnic attitudes and prejudices, to bring all communities together so that no one feels excluded from the incoming government.

The merger will enhance communities’ entitlement to the national cake when they win elections, rather than wait for post- election political mergers where losers are invited to the table from an inferior position.

The marginalised communities will find Jubilee quite accommodative because the structure is being done with those considerations in mind. It will give a chance to those who are unable to access state leadership due to their inferior numbers a chance to compete with other in the big party from a level ground.

However, I can categorically advise the party to invest a lot in its logistical and human resource capacity needed to oversee a transparent nomination process.

The future and strength of Jubilee will largely be measured by how meticulously it will organise a primaries that does not skew the odds in favour of incumbents.

This Jubilee house must be built on a stable foundation that can outlive the 2017 elections.

The Jubilee manifesto, the fulcrum around which Jubilee’s legacy revolves, depends on how stable the political environment will be in the next 20 or more years.

A disruptive political arrangement in the near future will equally mean key development agendas will have to be cut short because any other political system may have its own ideas on how they want they country governed.

I am upbeat that this merger will herald a new beginning in the way we conduct our politics and wish the opposition could be pragmatic enough to fold up constituent parties to form something that can rival the incoming Jubilee juggernaut.

If things remain on course and Jubilee party roars into the political scene the way we intend, and things remain the same in CORD, there will be no need of having sleepless night campaigning for 2017—we shall have won with a landslide, yet again.