Strange tale of ODM's 'pawa' quest without running for highest office

ODM leader late Raila Odinga with other party leaders during celebrations to mark ODM 20 years in existence.[Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Members of the opposition ODM party have been waiting with bated breath for a review of the implementation of a 10-point plan that its departed leader, Raila Odinga, signed with Prezzo Bill Ruto exactly this week, last year. In corporate lingo, this was a midterm review of the contract.

It’s the sort of milestone that would occasion lots of jitters if one had been sleeping on the job, for it would mean termination of contract, which would have left the ruling coalition adrift. As it turned out, there was no cause for alarm because the opposition long went to bed with the government.

Reason? The opposition exonerated the government against any claims of laxity. The ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga, claimed the ten-point plan had neither an expiry date nor were there strict timelines for its implementation. Put simply, there is no basis to harass the government for not keeping its word.

Indeed, these are strange times, as Siaya Governor James Orengo acknowledged on the radio this week, questioning the logic being applied by party stalwarts who have committed to offering the ODM, which is larger than UDA, as the platform for Prezzo Ruto’s re-election.

Equally confounding was his assertion that ODM does not have a pact of any kind with UDA. The ODM members in government are discharging those duties in their individual capacities, after running away from the party.

I thought I heard ODM party leader Oburu Oginga claim he can’t live without pawa, yet power appears to be the last thing on his mind. Surely, he can’t be that forgetful, even with advancing age!