WHY RAILA ODINGA WILL WIN THE 2017 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Let it be crystal clear that I am not from any big and politically active communities that have long dominated Kenya’s political sphere since independence. In precise, I am from the “other communities”, small and insignificant. I however note with deep concern that the sins of the Jubilee administration are just so conspicuous and will haunt the party come the next general elections.

Over fifty years after independence my community particularly has been politically sidelined until at least the time devolved government sprouted. Most of my folks that escaped the western snare have found themselves guarding gates for the rich and powerful in the city, doing construction and other manual jobs. Even in 2012 when one of my own folks tried his bid on the presidency he was labeled “Shetani wengine” which literally means “The other devils.”

Kenya has long been dominated by tribal politics but I think Raila Odinga is an authentic and charismatic leader that would make Kenya great again. I am not politically inclined to the troubled Cord coalition and especially the way it has embraced a head-on combat with other institutions like the IEBC, but I believe Odinga is the only viable option for 2017, should the Jubilee government not change tact on the way it is handling crucial matters like fighting run-away corruption.

Odinga is certainly not the best Kenya would wish for judging by his past miserable performance as a long-time Kibera legislator and equal coalition partner in the grand coalition government when he served as Prime Minister, but at least he knows what he stands for and if not he stands to be judged more harshly than any other leader Kenya will ever have should he fail to walk the talk that has characterized his sanguine political life.

In 2012 the Jubilee government came into power with the promise to end corruption as well as address the rising unemployment which currently stands at 40%. It’s worth noting that the government has irredeemably failed this task. I would gladly talk of the positives of the Uhuruto regime but there is little to point at. The Jubilee administration has lost both the heavens and the earth and is desperately dangling and panicking as its miserable pre-election promises chokes it to its untimely death.

I, just like millions of Kenyans feel utterly disillusioned at the slow pace at which the government has implemented its pre-election manifesto in fighting massive corruption in ministries and other government agencies. The regime has completely failed to create employment for thousands of graduates leaving them languishing in abject poverty. It has further glorified corruption by failing to prosecute a single suspect involved in mega scandals like the NYS and the Euro-bond. Precisely, it has endeavored to maintain status quo where the rich not only steal public money but also get away with impunity.

All these evils and miscalculations have only succeeded in making Raila Odinga and his troubled political faction the only alternative for 2017. It is the electioneering period and once again politicians are re-aligning in readiness for 2017 showdown in the East Africa economic powerhouse, but the errors, misconduct and obvious miscalculations of the Jubilee government have only worked to empower, embolden and reshape the political career of Raila Odinga to occupy state house in the coming general election.