Jubilee's rejuvenation of Joshua Miguna Miguna

Ancient Greeks believed that in the beginning there was chaos, and from that chaos came order. This journey from madness to sanity took hundreds of years, punctuated by epic battles between the gods of good and evil, and lengthy periods of progression and regression. Eventually, the gods got it together, and the people became the originators of democracy. So there is hope for Kenya. From chaos will come order no matter how long it takes.

But let’s move on swiftly. This man Miguna Miguna. We’ve become so used to his double-barrel moniker that we overlooked his first name, which is Joshua. How droll. Raila Odinga’s “journey to Canaan” rhetoric was lacking a Joshua, and now thanks to the curious and unusual fashion with which Jubilee is dealing with dissenters, it might have found one.

Miguna had become a social pariah. He was the man that everyone loved to hate, dismiss or disparage. His was a fall from grace that resounded across the nation, which is unfortunate because the book that occasioned his descent from the heights of political influence was actually a great read.

Yes, it was wildly controversial but it was also poignant, well-crafted and full of quotable quotes. Indeed, he kicked off the launch of ‘Peeling Back the Mask’ with what has become his signature quote: Come, baby, come.

Baptism

Those three words came back to haunt him when he invited the State to do their worst after administering the Raila oath. That singular act unleashed the GOK dragon that is now breathing fire, and scorching everything in its path.

The ‘general’ was fished out of his home in the dead of night, trotted about like an outlaw from one police station to the other, and eventually, bundled onto a flight that delivered him to Canada with nothing but the shirt on his back, and a pair of plastic slippers.

After six days of being taunted and prodded in police custody, one would have expected to see a man subdued. Instead, the world met a man rejuvenated. If you thought he was extra before, you probably don’t want to encounter him now. His brush with the GOK dragon might have singed his hairs a wee bit but its breath of fire seems to have been a purifying force. Joshua is now more resolute than ever to prepare the way for the journey ahead.

It was probably not the best idea to expose the dirty workings of state agents to a man with the memory of an elephant, and a mind so sharp it could literally cut you. And let’s not forget – not that we could – that this is a man who writes books, or at the very least has written one super-explosive book that did maximum damage to Odinga’s reputation.

Another book

If Miguna doesn’t write a ‘Looking Through the Bars’ prequel to his new life in resistance politics, I for one will be very disappointed. Joshua Miguna , son of Miguna, probably did not expect to be propelled from the lowest levels of political wheeler-dealing to international recognition as an icon of human rights – not in 2018 when Kenya should have crossed the river of oppression and entered the promised land of functioning democracies.

Not when he’d been down this path before and lived to see a second liberation. But that is the way of true democracy. It is a journey from chaos to order. Freedom will come after a series of epic battles between the forces of good and evil, punctuated by lengthy periods of progression and regression.

The irony of Miguna being at the nerve centre of a growing revolution cannot be escaped. This is a man whose prickly nature, acerbic wit, and bullish demeanour has rubbed many the wrong way. It wasn’t too long ago that he tried to humiliate Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris on live television.

And that was not the first time his name was associated with gender-based misconduct. He is certainly not the ideal candidate for sober leadership and yet he now finds that because greatness has been thrust upon him (due to the strategic ineptness of Kenya’s current regime), he must make every attempt to be great.

If we’re sticking to the biblical imagery, then we must note that God was wont to elevate the most unlikely characters to the greatest positions of influence. He chose Moses, the meekest man on earth, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua, the man who led them into Canaan, was bolder and more courageous. J. Miguna Miguna is both bold and courageous but only time will tell if that is all it takes to usher in a new day.

Ms. Masiga is Peace and Security Editor, The Conversation Africa