Raila Odinga Deserves Recognition and Respect

Published on 15th April 2013

Hon. Raila A. Odinga                  P. courtesy
The true price of democracy is sacrifice. Sacrifice of self, relationship, time and opportunities. This is what the outgoing Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Amolo Odinga has done throughout his life. It is the only virtue that has made his life worth celebrating. It is his salient character that has made him stand tall in Kenya and Africa. In fact, other world leaders may want to be honoured as democrats, but only a few of them can qualify for the same.

It is not an exaggeration to say that honourable Raila Odinga is one of the key  fathers and mentors of Kenya’s democracy. That is why the icons of multi-Party change process in Kenya, Gitobu  Imanyara, Aggrey  Orengo and the like have voluntarily played second fiddle to him.

It is quite unnerving to realize that majority of politicians who were elected on the Coalition for the Restoration of Democracy [CORD] ticket have now become political orphans which should not be the case. The fact that the Jubilee coalition under President Uhuru Kenyatta has formed the government after being cleared by the Supreme Court is not a ticket to sideline or underrate CORD leaders.

President Uhuru Kenyatta must act independently and reject any perceived pressure from his inner circle to ignore Raila Odinga - his closest rival in the race for presidency -  for the sake of development. This will ensure that his leadership is not seen as a tribal. 

If I were Uhuru Kenyatta, I would engage the outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga in dialogue for partnership so that Kenya can attain  greater heights of economic achievements that would at the end of the day help address the high levels of poverty that majority of Kenyans are currently undergoing.  

While I appreciate the great contribution of the West to Kenya and Africa in particular, the nations of the West should get more civilized and understand that African nations are now politically independent but socio-economically interrelated to them. The just ended election was purely a Kenyan affair. It is the registered voters who voted for Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto despite the fact that they are facing charges on crime against humanity at the Hague. The West ought to honour the wishes of Kenyans who cast their votes in large numbers for their preferred candidate taking into consideration the fact that democracy is the voice of the majority and the recognition that the interests of the minority matters and that is why we are not in the street fighting.

Although he is not president, Raila Odinga is an accomplished democrat. As a democrat, Raila should be doing what he has always done best in the past---accepting defeat in good faith and engaging the duly elected president for the mutual benefit of the people of Kenya.

The relationship between the Kikuyu and the Luo communities will depend on how Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga will relate and embrace each other or else the old animosity displayed between Jaramogi Oginga Odinga versus Jomo Kenyatta will most likely loom large. This should not be the case.

Now that he [Uhuru Kenyatta] has been sworn in as the fourth president of the republic of Kenya, he should work closely with Raila if he [Raila] so wishes.

If I was Uhuru Kenyatta, I would demonstrate democratic maturity by engaging and incorporating the CORD team in government considering that they also have majority of elected legislators, senators and governors across the country.

Raila Odinga must be ready and willing to work with Uhuru Kenyatta as far as the transition process is concerned. By the way, someone needs to take after Nelson Mandela. I feel Raila Odinga  fits Mandela’s shoes.

By Gilbert Ochieng
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