Ford-K debacle: The hard, cold truth (let the Fat Lady sing!)

Hon. Musikari Kombo et al have utilized every possible opportunity to demonize Hon. Raila Odinga as:

1. An unreliable and untrustworthy politician. 2. A power-hungry individual. 3. An opportunist who will do anything to ascend to the pinnacle of national Kenyan politics, including but not excluding extra judicial ways and means. Granted, Hon. Odinga is no angel, but the country could not have had a more shrewd and pragmatic politician for this age. When under fire for "co-operating" with KANU a few years ago, I recall Odinga stating on national televsion that "every political party exists to compete for and attain political power." That was his way of rationalizing his cohabitation with then-President Moi, a fact derided by many but now accepted by even those who have specialized in potraying themselves as political saints. No less a person than Hon. Kombo himself used Odinga's very words over the weekend while defending his claim to the party's leadership. The drama had gone full-circle...... Two things must be said here in quick effect. First: I believe that a time is coming when Hon. Odinga will certainly exit the country's political stage, but hastening the coming of that in the manner some of his detractors have been doing is nihilist and defeatist; besides it's an already beaten path (ask former legislators James Orengo, Joe Donde, Shem Ochuodho and - most recently - Rarieda MP Raphael Tuju). Second: Hon. Kombo et al must eat humble pie...and accept that they are as power-hungry as the man they want us to believe they aren't like. The on-going wrangles in Ford-K may have other effects on the country's body-politik, but for once I'm glad they have served to remind us to be honest (a lost virtue in our leadership menu).

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