Jeff Kenyatta on #LuoPolitics WHY THE LUO NATION NEEDS KIDERO MORE THAN IT NEEDS RAILA. It’s clear to me that ODM has Jubilee moles within it. These “splitists” want to enact the Odinga-Mboya schism again. They want to front a “Mboya” from within to kill what they call the “Odinga grip” on the Luo Nation. Makau Mutua, in his usual disparaging tirade against any anti-Odinga sentiment, penned a skewed advisory piece to Raila Odinga, in the Sunday Standard Newspaper, alluding Dr. Evans Kidero and Dalmas Otieno as the two Mboyas set to wreck ODM from within. The SUNNY Buffalo professor never minced deragatory claims calling upon stern measures not just to tame Kidero and his ilk but have the Mboyas smoked out of the Orange party. Apparently, the two Mboyas recent harambee crusades in Luo Nyanza have raised political eyebrows and shiver down the spin of many Odinga allies who see it as a veiled sugar-coated attempt to decampaign Raila Odinga in the guise of development within the region. The Odinga dynasty that continues to hold sway in the lakeside, since time immemorial, precisely the last half of a century, has been perhaps Luos curse or blessing in Kenyas murky political waters. Whereas Luo, more than any other community, has been the herald of great heroes, pre and post colonial Kenya, from ancient legendary Luanda Magere to later day powerful Barack Obama; the Mboyas and Jaramogis and Onekos and Oukos, it beats logic as to why and how these heroes tribe has always been kept a heartbeat away from the House on the Hill. Why and how could such a tribes children sacrifice and bleed for Kenyas preservation of liberty and justice and freedom, enduring death and assasinations and torture, but be constantly tossed in a political wilderness, by conspired yet powerful opposing forces, determined to discard its political history into oblivion? From the young Turks to firebrand activists and 90s radical student leaders, some like Karl Marx who got expelled from UoN fighting KANU atrocities and a dictatorial oppressive regime, its without doubt Kenyas history would be incomplete minus O names. What then kept (past) Mboya, Jaramogi, Ouko and continues to keep (present) Raila Odinga to see statehouse from far but always live far from statehouse? Its not Evans Kidero. Its not Dalmas Otieno. Makau Mutuas hypothesis is wrong as it is false. For how do you explain for 97 polls or 07 polls or 2013 polls? Was Kidero there? He wasnt. Neither was Dalmas Otieno. Raila Odinga faced no Mboya faction. What the Orange house must grapple with is that when a candle lights another candle, it doesnt dim from shining. Nor does the other candle shine any brighter. It instead helps drive darkness away making the house illuminate and glow better. Thats what Luo Nation must come to terms with. Having Kidero and Raila, as candles, in the same Orange House, may work out as an advantage, not a peril, if well harnessed through internal party democracy. Raila Odinga is advanced in years. He may not soon retire from active politics, but to retire from life he must, as all and sundry will. In such an eventuality, without Kidero, Luo Nation may risk being political orphans, as did the Luhyas when Kijana Wamalwa died or the Kisii when Simeon Nyachae retired. The homogeniety of the two tribes has weakened further allowing their bergaining power in successive regimes, within government, to diminish into thin air. But unlike the two tribes, Kisii and Luhya, Luo political relevance has survived owing to the presence of an alternative Luo kingpin or successor who has carried the mantle to the next generation. When Tom Mboya was assasinated, Jaramogi was still a political bigwig. When Jaramogi died, he had already groomed Raila Odinga as a heir successor. Maybe its time to prepare another Luo scion before Raila exits the political scene, either through death or retirement. Kidero, to me, is the safest and most appealing bet, as he commands a larger cosmopolitan constituency. Thus, Raila needs to mentor Kidero. Of the two, Luos have a lesser political lifespan with the former than the latter. Thats why they, for self preservation, need Evans Kidero more than they need Raila Odinga. The dice is caste. Take it or leave it!
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 11:51:55 +0000
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