A friend of mine on Friday night posted this on X: “Someone was detained for almost nine years in prison, came out, stood firm and relentlessly and persistently spoke truth to power, wewe ata ukiguswa tu na side mirror ya Subaru ya polisi unapiga nduru kushinda nguruwe anachinjwa! Bwana call me anything for all I care.”
We were having a lively discussion on Raila Amollo Odinga when this came up. Curiously of the five people on the table only that friend was Luhya and he was willing to put his life on the line swearing that Raila Odinga had pulled off another trademark political coup by upstaging everyone in the current marriage between ODM Party and the Kenya Kwanza administration.
I vehemently said no, it is Ruto that has pulled off the biggest genius move on the cataclysmic chessboard of contemporary Kenyan politics. I insisted that President Dr William Samoei Ruto is a hardliner and anyone thinking that by conceding to the demands of Gen Z he had surrendered is a virtual newcomer to Kenyan politics. That was a tactical withdrawal and he said as much yesterday in Mombasa when he promised to return patriots such as Aisha Jumwa back to his government.
But because you can’t argue and win against three Luos, particularly when the subject is Baba, I gave up.
AdverBecause of their ancestral ingenuity the Luo people have outfoxed past regimes including that of the “professor of politics” Daniel arap Moi when he insisted that football teams in Kenya drop their ethnic identities. In order for Gor Mahia Football Club to retain it’s identity they coined the acronym Gulf Olympic Rangers for Gor; as for Mahia they argued it means the unfathomable or indefatigable! Trust Luos with ingenuity.
To justify the inclusion of four prominent ODM Party leaders in the Ruto cabinet they are now claiming it was a masterstroke by Raila – settling the rivalry between Joho and Oparanya on one hand and Mbadi and Wandayi on the other. ODM Party Secretary-general Edwin Sifuna says Raila knew nothing of the appointments.
Well, not only do the Luo people posses a collective fertile imagination but also are incorrigible especially on matters pertaining to Baba. Always Baba is right and if he’s not right, then he’s very right!
It would have been a shocker akin to being left destitute if at all the Gen Z would have succeeded where for three decades Baba had failed. That was inconceivable and that’s why the Luo through Robert Onyango Alai begun assigning tribal connotations to the Gen Z movement.
They begun asking the dubious questions such as why was it Ruto must Go and not Ruto and Gachagua must go?. If you look into recent social media activity with an inquiring mind you’ll see the Luo bloggers, inadvertently, calling for negotiations whereas the Gen Z outlined clearcut demands. It was the Luo nation which was appeased by Ruto in the latest Cabinet appointments with two members of the community (close allies of Raila) getting powerful dockets of Treasury and Energy.
Before you accuse me of being addicted to the village bodaboda stage kind of political analysis, ask yourself why the Luo are celebrating more than anyone else. This was how it was meant to be- that they should feel appeased and come out against the ongoing onslaught to fight corruption and ineptitude in governance.
I said that is before you accuse me of subscribing to the tribalistic epithets of claiming that Mbadi is a Suba and Wandayi could possibly be Abandu.
Yes, the Luos are geniuses and with their own sons from ODM Party now flying the national flag and occupying key positions in government you can rest assured the revolt is over.
The question I’ve been asking continuously and not getting any satisfactory answers is whether Kenyans are aware that the Gen Z youth might mutate, transmogrify and carry on the struggle underground with a view to overhauling the system come 2027.
I’ve been saying, and nobody wants to listen to this, that Raila and his allies could have joined the government and that is certainly a win for them, but it doesn’t change the demands of the Gen Z that were not met.
Later on Friday my fears were confirmed when one of the “we don’t have leaders” leader of Gen Z, Boniface Mwangi was released from police custody.
Since I quoted ad-verbatim the post from my friend at the beginning of this article, and since am not taking sides on this matter, allow me also to quote Boniface Mwangi, then make your own verdict.
“Freedom is sweet, and precious. Thank you all for your voices. The political class is, and will continue to fight back against those who want a better Kenya. The beneficiaries of the corruption in Kenya will join hands to malign active citizens. They will come after us with everything they’ve got. This isn’t over.
Please note, the state will not only use the normal channels for the witch-hunts, they will also send goons, both private, and government to us. Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU), and the Operation Support Unit (OSU) are being used to extrajudicially abduct, and even kill people. They’re trained masters of capture, and kill and that is what they will do. Stay safe good people, don’t let your guard down!
Finally, take this fight also to your Governors, Senators, MPs, and MCAs, and even to the local police stations that oppresses young people. Demand for free national identity cards without an expiry date, locate your Constituency Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) office, and then ensure that you’re registered to vote. This fight will not be a sprint but a marathon, so be ready to be a Kipchoge, a marathon champion, because eventually, we are going to win this! #TeamCourage”
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