The Orange Democratic Movement has been in the news as jostling picks up ahead of the party elections.
The
kind of interest the pulling and shoving has generated indicates that
it is not just about who is who in the emerging line-ups; it is about
the fate of ODM as a viable political vehicle heading towards the 2017
General Election and, in particular, the prospects of Mr Raila Odinga as
the party leader contemplates a fourth, and probably final,
presidential bid.
An outfit that loves to shoot itself
in the foot, ODM has generated plenty of negative publicity, to the
delight of detractors more than keen to read Mr Odinga’s political
obituary.
The issue has been Mr Odinga resisting a push
by a section of the party aspirants from his Luo Nyanza bedrock to
reserve all the key offices for themselves.
It is
incredible that in this day and age characters who call themselves Young
Turks, a modern, educated and cosmopolitan lot angling to drive ODM to
the next level, can offer such retrogressive, backward leadership.
After
the demise of former sole legal party, Kanu, as well as Ford,
Democratic Party, Ford Kenya, Ford Asili, Narc, Narc Kenya, and a motley
of other outfits and offshoots that rose and fell after the advent of
political pluralism, ODM is perhaps the only remaining party that can
claim anything approaching the status of national political party.
True,
it is very much associated with Mr Odinga and Luo political
aspirations, but it has representation and following across Kenya that
makes it a formidable political organisation. With its Cord alliance
partner, the Wiper party of former vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka, it at
present offers the only viable challenge to the governing Jubilee
coalition of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Party (TNA) and
Deputy President William Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP).
Incredible
then that, instead of working to build up ODM’s national and
nationalist credentials, a bunch of short-sighted politicians is doing
the opposite in trying to depict the party as an insular, ethnic outfit.
A
look at the cast of characters reveals some politicians simply trying
to use the ethnic base to build their own leadership credentials.
Some
are simply playing Luo succession politics in the belief that Mr
Odinga, approaching the age of three-score and ten, is on his last legs.
Others stand for nothing but unprincipled self-seeking pursuit of power
and position.
They consorted with the dictatorial and
corrupt Kanu when it was in power and are already showing a tendency to
traffic with the Jubilee leadership in transactions that can only be
designed to weaken ODM.
Mr Odinga reacted firmly and
decisively in telling off those seeking ODM leadership on the Luo
platform. When he stood firm, a bunch of declared candidates pulled out
of the party polls.
Unfortunately, the spate of sullen
withdrawals also served to illustrate the grip he has on the party and
Luo politics. It demonstrated a dictatorial control reminiscent of the
Mama na Baba era in Kanu when President Moi presented pre-determined
party lists at those infamous cheering festivals and hero-worship
gatherings that comprised the Kanu Delegates Conference.
We
still do not know exactly how the lot now being called party rebels was
persuaded to step down, but it might have been better for ODM to leave
space for all aspirants and let democracy prevail.
How
ODM manages the party elections and from then on the critical period
leading to 2017 will largely help Kenyans make up their minds whether it
offers a serious, disciplined, principled, and democratic alternative.
Mr
Odinga does not need reminding that the chaotic party nominations ahead
of the last General Election did much to take away the momentum from
ODM and the Cord alliance and hand victory to Jubilee.
Another
botched exercise, especially with moneyed rivals waiting to throw
spanners into the works and reap from the fallout, could well be the
final nail in the coffin.
That is the challenge for a
party that must demonstrate that it is a government-in-waiting, a
credible alternative to TNA, which will not be rocked by internal
competition because it is personal political vehicle run by hand-picked
officials.
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