There is no adjective that can entirely underscore the greatness of Raila Odinga. His demise has left an ocean of tears and broken hearts in its wake.
He is a man against whom the comprador bourgeoisie ganged up to the detriment of a whole generation. One of my greatest blessings is to have lived to see the various phases of Raila’s life.
From the no-nonsense uncompromising leader of the LDP during the MoU fallout in Narc, through the heady days of Serena talks during the 2008 post-election violence, to his days as prime minister. But I got to meet him up-close after he left the office of Prime Minister. I then went ahead to work actively in his two presidential runs.
In a more just Kenya, Raila would have died as an ex-president. The other truth is that if he were the power hungry demagogue that his opponents painted him to be every election year, we would be competing with Somalia and Sudan right now on the state instability score.
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When we wake up in a peaceful country, when we can walk in to work and take our children to school without fear of militiamen, we must admit we have Raila to thank for it.
Pursuit of power
Every time he extended his hand for peace after an election dispute, it was to diminish any opportunity that nefarious forces could exploit to plunge the country into violence. His love for peace came from an understanding that it was pointless to lose a country in the interest of pursuit of power. Politics, his life choices showed us, must be about giving ordinary people a chance to write better stories.
That brings me into celebrating Raila’s profound intellectual brilliance. Here is a leader who was by all accounts one of the most far-sighted in this country. He was revolutionary in his thinking. He had the solutions to transform our society. But each time, we stalled him and then implemented his ideas in a haphazard manner.
Today, as a consequence of the various bypasses, it’s easier to criss-cross Nairobi city from one end to the other without being stuck in traffic. This was an idea that Raila conceived when he was Minister for Roads. At the time, the idea was fought viciously by the beneficiaries of land grabbing of previous years. But he stayed put.
Twenty years later we can drive from Kabete through Eastern Bypass to Ruiru via Eastern bypass in under one hour. When we opened Thika Superhighway to allow movement of fresh farm produce from the Mount Kenya region to get to the city more efficiently. Landowners along that stretch who had encroached on the road reserve had some epithets to throw his way.
In death, we saw everyone who had ganged up against him, offer flowery eulogy. Hypocrisy or change of heart? That we might never tell as the scriptures say that the heart of man is deceitful. Raila suffered a streak of betrayals.
In the final analysis, I have learnt from Raila that we must never lose our fundamental faith in the goodness of people. See how he readily embraced some of his worst adversaries. In many respects, this legend was let down by the country he loved in life. May we honour his ideals in death.
Mr Kidi is the the convener of Inter-Parties Youth Forum
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By Kidi Mwaga