It will be hard for Raila to rally Luo Nyanza behind him in 2027

Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga at his Karen home in April 2021. [Emmanuel Wanson, Standard]

Talk of Raila Odinga's time being over in politics has been a recurrent theme since 2013. At some point, he attempted to make lemonade of such talks by embracing the 'risasi ni moja' slogan. He attempted to whip up the emotions of his support base by claiming he had only a single bullet left in his political magazine. This was a call to his supporters to turn out in large numbers and vote for him, but as fate would have it, that election ended in controversy, at the Supreme Court and with the now famous phrase, "We shall respect, but do not agree''.

After a long, chequered political career, one thing that remains uncontested is Baba's ability to self-reengineer. It will be interesting to see how he plays his cards between now and 2027.