Will lady luck smile on Raila Odinga as he makes his 5th stab at the presidency?

Presidential candidate Raila Odinga and runningmate Martha Karua. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Today marks what might turn out to be an epochal moment for one of the foremost mercurial players in Kenya’s politics over the past four decades. Raila Odinga has rocked the cradle of Kenya’s civic activities like nobody else, leading him seasonally in and out of government, depending on the fortunes and vicissitudes. His political choices and activities have seen him in and out of detention, exile and government. Today, as he submits himself to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for certification for the August 9 presidential election, he arrives in the ambiguous incarnation of the opposition leader who enjoys the support of retiring president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and as a co-president of sorts. 

He also arrives before the Wafula Chebukati-led commission with a starry galaxy of backers, including some who have been among his most ardent critics and political adversaries, significantly epitomised in his running mate, Martha Karua. Raila has previously blamed Karua as the mastermind of the bungled election of 2007, which he claims was stolen from him. He has no kind words for her in his autobiography, The Flame of Freedom. That she is today his running mate is a tale of how times and tides have shifted the Kenyan political arena ahead of this year’s poll. Raila’s Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance is at once a team of rivals and a rival team. It has been a long walk to this platform, and especially so for the man of the moment, Raila Amolo Odinga.  

December 2007 was easily his highest moment in these murky waters, and the dramas and strange twists within them. If it had gone well, it would also have been the highest moment for the entire Odinga clan. It signified the acme of hope and fulfilment for a family that has nurtured a timeless big dream for itself and its country. In that particular Christmas season, Raila came within a hairline of becoming Kenya’s national Chief Executive Officer. It was going to be his best festive season ever. But it was not to be. Hence, he makes his fifth stab at the presidency today in the hope that lady luck will smile on him this time and the fifth stab will make him the fifth president of Kenya.