Democracy in ODM admirable

The Raila-Mudavadi rivalry within the ODM party is admirable. It is what cannot, and will probably never, take place in other political parties in Kenya. All political parties in this country belong to individuals who use them as ladders to high political offices. When Musalia Mudavadi, the Deputy Leader of the formidable ODM, announced his intention to seek the party ticket in the forthcoming Presidential election, Raila’s enemies thought they had acquired a new comrade in arms.

But Mudavadi has made it very clear that he does not intend to leave ODM even if Raila defeats him at the nomination stage. The spirited countrywide campaigns by Raila and Musalia, seeking support from party members in their fight for the party’s presidential ticket, show the kind of internal democracy needed in all political parties in the country. Unfortunately it only exits in the ODM and that is why it is the most powerful political institution in the country.

Raila and Mudavadi should take their campaigns a stage farther than individual tours of different parts of the country. They should make the tours jointly and address ODM groups together as they answer questions from members from joint platforms. Unless candidates share platforms in contestant debates during party primaries, internal democracy in political parties will not be complete.

Right now the G7 group is indeed travelling together as a group to many parts of the country where their various political parties are popular. They have confined themselves to the Rift Valley, the former Central Province and Machakos where indeed they have shared platforms and addressed public rallies jointly. But they have not done so as rivals competing for joint party nomination. In fact there is nothing like political unity in the so-called G7 group.

Each of the G7 top three leaders has his own political party based on tribal support. William Ruto has the United Republican Party which is a Kalenjin party; Kalonzo Musyoka has his own Wiper Democratic Party which is a Kamba party and Uhuru Kenyatta has his own KANU which is a party in serious leadership problem. Uhuru, however, is assured of the backing of the majority of the Kikuyu people whichever political party he joins as the top leader. That support is not automatic if he joins a party to support another leader.

The problem with the G7 group is that it has no ideology that unites them. They are only together to make sure that Raila Odinga does not become Kenya’s next President. The group does not even seem to agree on why they oppose Raila Odinga. They are not able to pinpoint any ideological stand by Raila Odinga which makes them oppose him. Yet it is common knowledge among all the people of Kenya that Raila is probably the most sincere supporter of the new Constitution and what it stands for.

By inference it stands to reason that what brings G7 together is its continued opposition to the demands of the new Constitution. Among them is William Ruto who spent a lot of money and energy to oppose the Constitution. The manner in which Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka supported the supreme law was so half-heartedly lackadaisical that they were branded watermelons.

Today both Ruto and Kenyatta are not sure whether they will meet the required standards of leadership that is stipulated in the new Constitution. With criminal cases hovering over their heads at the ICC in The Hague, it is not even clear whether the Kenyan courts will allow them to seek leadership positions under the new Constitution. Deep inside their hearts, therefore, they must be bitterly opposed to the new Constitution which they obviously must see as a major impediment to their insatiable desire to lead this country.

The continued effort by the G7 to tear this country apart along tribal lines is however likely to miserably fail because the people of Kenya correctly see the new Constitution as the only available vehicle to prosperity, justice and democracy. For a long time the wealth of this nation has been concentrated in the hands of a few individuals who happened to wield political power. Paradoxically they grabbed political power by successfully utilizing the old colonial adage of ‘divide and rule’. After dividing the nation into small tribal clusters through bribery and xenophobic nationalism the rich always managed to use the divided masses as stepping stones to political power.

That scenario has been drastically changed by the people when they overwhelmingly supported the new constitution. The only ideological difference which the voters of Kenya will be looking for when electing their new leaders, will be the ability to correctly interpret the new constitution. That ability will be exhibited in the manner the leaders explain to the people about their commitment and competence to correctly implement it.

It so happens that the only political party that is able to interpret the new Constitution correctly to the satisfaction of the people is the ODM. This is mainly because the party is made up of the people of Kenya who genuinely want change in this country. The people who want to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots, as it is suggested in the new constitution, all happen to be in the ODM. But the party must learn to conduct its primary elections in a more transparent manner through genuine interpretation of the new Constitution by telling the people how it indents to implement it.

If Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi share a platform and answer questions from the people on how they intend to implement the new Constitution n, the two will be speaking the same language. Apart from publicly exhibiting internal democracy within their party, however, Raila and Mudavadi are also dancing to the tune of tribal demands of their people. The Luos would most likely not like to see Raila serving in the Mudavadi administration as the deputy President. And the Luhyas would obviously like their son to take the top position in the next ODM Government. But everything else being equal the Luhyas know very well that their son is not a match to Agwambo and in fact they would be extremely lucky to have Mudavadi as the Deputy President in the next Government.