Tale of Kalonzo's last bullet from a cranky gun

Exactly eleven months to the next General Election, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is struggling for visibility. It’s quite an odd predicament for a man who wants to dethrone President William Ruto but seems too reluctant to make a good showing.

This earth is hard! How do you help someone eyeing a powerful seat but unwilling to sweat for it? Do you whisk him into action, shower him with pity or go on your knees to pray for him? Many observers are worried that the rise of DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua in opposition leadership and the excitement around Senator Edwin Sifuna don’t rattle Mr Musyoka at all. He’s politically sleepwalking, and that’s why he appears unfazed.

I have written countless times urging the former VP to come out and carry the vision for the limping united opposition. You’ll agree that today, he can’t seriously claim to be the ‘de facto’ opposition leader. And, more importantly, he’s doing nothing to grab the challenge.

When Raila Odinga died, many Kenyans crossed their fingers hoping that Mr Musyoka would fill the enigma’s shoes. What did he do? The man mellowed. He failed to convince Azimio supporters that he was a worthy pair of hands to lead them into the 2027 elections.

The three times he backed Mr Odinga at the ballot in 2013, 2017 and 2022 also did little to help him learn how to become a leader of steel like Baba. In political parlance, leaders who like playing it too safe are called ‘Cerelac kings’ with big ambition. They wait to be endorsed and even funded.

The tragedy now is that with Mr Gachagua and Mr Sifuna radiating so much energy, it will take a miracle for Mr Musyoka to convince anyone outside Lower Eastern that he will be a factor in 2027. This, by the way, has nothing to do with the roads to Tseikuru, or what he did or didn’t do in the last four decades.

Let me ask again. How does anyone square off against Dr Ruto without embodying a clear alternative vision? How do you even imagine outsmarting the president when you can’t throw punches or crisscross the country in search of votes? What political capital do you derive from press conferences and statements issued from the lush lawns of top hotels instead of going out to meet the people?

Well, I have a message for the former Number Two. Much as he wants to remain cautious and perpetually on the back foot, one reality awaits him next year. Should he fail to become president, he must forget it. In 2032, he will be irrelevant. He has only one remaining bullet stuck in a cranky gun.

To confirm his aloofness, Mr Musyoka isn’t taking advantage of his ‘cousin’ Riggy G’s month-long trip to the US to assert himself. This is the time the Wiper chief should fill the void by making noise over their usual pet subjects like public debt, university funding and the goons menace.

He may have been a vice-president, the man who divided ODM in 2007, a minister, a diplomat, a presidential running mate, the Kamba kingpin and all that. But to the ordinary voter, he’s simply a reluctant man seeking the presidency for the sake of it.

Wiper fanatics like lawyer Nzau Musau see their man as a high achiever and a ruthless political survivor. But survival mode can blur vision. Such survivors often clutch at every straw for a chance to walk the red carpet. Indeed, the art of political opportunism has a way of producing melon-like characters.

My two cents? Mr Musyoka must quickly do something extraordinary, as his friend Mr Odinga did, to earn the wider appeal. He shouldn’t think that his advanced age alone will earn him the opposition ticket. If I were him, I would resign to my ‘good manners’ and allow others to carry on the battle.

His best bet is to back Dr Ruto. Now that he’s been badly dwarfed by Mr Gachagua and Mr Sifuna, Mr Musyoka has reached political Siberia.

-The writer is a communications practitioner.