Trials debate tests Raila’s statesmanship

All ayes are on Prime Minister Raila Odinga. His leadership skills, and may be even his statesmanship, are under microscopic examination both locally and internationally. As Kenyans debate on whether or not the planners and financiers of post election clashes should be tried locally or at The Hague, everyone expects Raila Odinga, and not necessarily Mwai Kibaki, to come up with a solution that will satisfy Kenya and the rest of the world. This is the time when Agwambo must lead the country from the darkness of disagreement and divergence to the light of harmony and conformity. To achieve that goal he has to make very tough decisions that will have far reaching consequences not only to the country but also to his own political party ODM.

The first test that the Prime Minister must pass is to convince everyone that Mutula Kilonzo’s Independent Tribunal Bill is most suitable unaltered. For the second time in a week the Cabinet is still torn apart on this issue. Those who want the Bill amended to give Mwai Kibaki powers to forgive the guilty, or to allow the Attorney General to enter nolle prosequi in order to protect some accused leaders during the trial, or give the Chief Justice powers to transfer uncompromised trial judges, have an axe to grind.

They want the Bill diluted to get off the hook. Most of them were named by the KNCHR as people who plotted and financed the post election murders; but the Prime Minister must not hesitate to confront them and openly tell them to defend themselves in court, if they are as innocent as they would like everyone to believe. Among the accused people are very important ODM leaders whom Raila must be in a position to discipline fearlessly.

If the Cabinet rejects Mutula’s Bill it will mean that the Prime Minister and the President are not able to control members of their own parties.This uncalled for eventuality seems to be facing the country now and the two principals should quickly reshuffle the Cabinet and keep only loyal Ministers in it. After all a divided Cabinet has been the main cause of all political troubles in the country and the sooner the two leaders learn the techniques of using their constitutional powers to enforce collective responsibility the better it will be for the whole country. No one, whether in the Cabinet or outside it, should be allowed to hold the country to ransom to fulfill their personal political ambitions.

If and when the Cabinet accepts Mutula’s Bill then both Kibaki and Raila will have to show that they control their various political parties and can make their chief whips mobilize Members of Parliament to back important legislations. If, and this is a very big if, the Cabinet does not amend Mutula’s Bill there will be no reason for Gitobu Imanyara and his group to oppose it when it eventually ends up in Parliament. The eagerness by the majority of MPs to push the trial to The Hague is meant to make sure that justice will not only be done, but will manifestly be seen to be done. In the unlikely event that Mutula’s Bill surprisingly goes through Parliament then every step will have been taken to make sure Imanyara’s goals are achieved.

The major obstacle that will make the Bill to be rejected by both the Cabinet and the Legislature will come from William Ruto, Franklin Bett, Dr. Sally Kosgey, Henry Kosgey , William ole Ntimama, Najib Balala and Uhuru Kenyatta who have all been named by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) as the people who instigated the clashes that saw the death of 1,000 Kenyans and displaced over 300,000 others.

When, hopefully next week, the Bill goes though the Cabinet and ends up in Parliament it will face vehement opposition led by Elizabeth Ong’oro, Kabando wa Kabando, and Ramadhan Kajembe, who are also named by the KNCHR. MPs who will be up in arms and will do everything to make sure the Bill fails to go through will include Chris Okemo, Peter Mwathi, John Pesa, Anyanga Omondi, Marger Lagat and Fred Kapondi who are also on the KNCHR list.

This opposition to the Bill will be a direct challenge to Raila Odinga’s leadership. If he is the statesman Kenyans believe he is, he will not let down over 1,000 innocent wananchi who lost their lives for trying to exercise their political rights. Killing people because they belong to a certain political party is denying them the most fundamental first generation human rights which are enshrined in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. These rights made the Prime Minister’s father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, spend years behind bars in their defence. As a statesman Raila should not abandon truth and justice in defence of a few individuals who claim to be in trouble because of fighting for him. Raila’s ODM happens to be the most powerful party in Parliament and if he is the real undisputed leader of the party then he should make sure the Kilonzo Bill goes through, no matter whose sensitive toes he has to step on.

Raila’s leadership qualities will be tested even more in his political party ODM. The party Chairman Henry Kosgey and one of its Deputy Leaders, William Ruto, are on the KNCHR list. They hold those top positions in the party because they are Kelenjin leaders and they claim without them the entire tribe will pull out , weakening the ODM in the massive Rift Valley.

As a statesman Raila Odinga must be in the forefront of those struggling to see the end of tribal political parties or political parties made up of tribal groupings and parochial nationalism in Kenya. Indeed the accusation against the ODM Rift Valley leaders is that they mobilized their tribes to slaughter Kikuyus after the 2007 elections. The Kelenjins fought the Kikuyus to get back their ostensible land and not to boost Raila’s political image. The party Raila leads must be strong enough to kick out Ruto and Kosgey if they were involved in any criminal activity. The party’s popularity in the Rift Valley should not depend on Ruto and Kosgey. It should depend on its principles, which should be far above the idea of collecting a bunch of tribal chiefs together.

That may be easier said than done; but as a statesman Raila should lead this nation in getting rid of ethnic political parties that have been responsible for the spread of xenophobic nationalism in Kenya. It is this parochial chauvinism that has been responsible for the bloodbath that has been the same in Kenya election after election. The other two people who will be hard to kick out of the ODM will be Ramadhan Kajembe and Najib Balala from Coast Province. The two MPs believe without them the ODM will be unpopular down at the Coast. Nothing could be farther from the truth and Raila should know that fact. His statesmanship will depend on showing the people of the Coast, who are among his strongest supporters, that he is above tribal clusters within the party. The city of Mombasa today is Kenya’s best example of how Kenyans can integrate and live together as citizens of the same nation. Kajembe and Balala must not be allowed to pull them apart.

There is only one PNU man, Uhuru Kenyatta, who was named by the KNCHR as a suspect, and because the party has so many presidential candidates in 2012, many PNU leaders are looking forward to Uhuru’s departure from the political scene at that time. If he will then be in jail , he can only harmelssly end up being a Kikuyu hero who will not block their way to State House. Uhuru himself loves the idea of going to jail on behalf of the Kikuyus. That way he will truly be walking in his father’s footsteps and as the undisputed leader of the largest tribe in Kenya, State House will then be his sooner or later. After all he is still a young man. That, however, remains to be seen.