When a list of the most intolerant top politicians in Kenya is produced, Raila Amollo Odinga’s name should not miss it, at all. It would be a grave mistake to omit this personality from it as his activities over the past few weeks have wholesomely qualified him into this group of Kenyans.
Though, some may try to portray him as among stellar revolutionaries the country has ever had since independence, they do it at the risk of exposing their massive ignorance of what the PM has of late been engaging in.
Raila is a gigantic personality. And people talking of Kenya history would appear lunatic if they don’t mention him as one of those who gave up their lives in fighting for redemption of this nation. However his place in the liberation books would be of no significance then because his poor record of handling opponents would have tainted it enough. It would instead speak greater of his egotism than patriotism.
The patriotic side of Raila would have triumphed in any contest over his intolerance of critics had he followed President Barrack Obama footsteps. Unfortunately, the later is doing well, for now, over the former unlike the USA president who’s evidently scoring well both in patriotism and tolerance of former and present pundits.
Obama is one politician who has portrayed lots of confidence on his opponents and it would be an error of this millennium to equate him with Raila. Obama, despite facing dissention from his closest stalwarts not to appoint perceived nemesis,installed fierce rivals in powerful offices. Hillary Clinton, a magnanimous and humble loser to Obama in Democratic Party primaries got an influential job, reportedly salivated for by many pals of Obama.
And even before picking Ms Clinton, Obama had demonstrated admirable restraint on his critics when he appointed Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. Biden had crudely criticised Obama’s inexperience on US foreign policy during the primaries, where both contested for the party ticket.
Raila, on the other hand, has not only failed to handle open-minded critics in his ODM party but also displayed his inability to allow different ideologies to prosper from within. Take an example of William Ruto, the Higher Education minister. When he expressed different opinions about Mau evictions, and where to charge post-election perpetrators, he, the self-appointed enigma of Kenyan politics, took a swift route, only explainable in terms of bigotry, to separate Ruto and his allies from their constituents.
People who subscribe to tolerance do not employ any sort of rudimentary ways to handle opponents; instead they face them with their thoughts and try to reach a common ground. Raila did not do that, and if he did, his intolerance and impatience may have cost him success.
After months of fiery verbal exchanges, Raila, the Kenyan whose abilities to woo crowds is unequal, threw the first fist after what appeared to be a well worked framing of Ruto, then Agriculture minister, by unsuccessfully suspending him from the docket when accusations emerged that the minister had engaged in dirty dealings with government maize sales-he though disgracefully demoted him later. It was the height of egotism on the side of the PM captured well by his reactions after the President rescinded his move.
Came the new constitution making alongside campaigning for or against it and Raila and Ruto found themselves in a duel again in as many months. After a successful passage of the documented new laws, which gave Raila an upper-hand in politics over Ruto, Raila has once again sang very well to his intolerance tune by sacking an assistant minister, Jackson Kiptanui. He was with Ruto in campaigning against the proposed laws and follows his opposition counterpart Charles Keter, a close ally of Ruto, who suffered from Raila’s crude tactics months before ballot day. Both have been given an Obama-opposite kind of salutation and now they have to cool their hot heels in the backbench.
Of all the three leaders who form the Grand Coalition government, Raila has sacked two assistant ministers in the past year. Undoubtedly those relieved of their duties are honestly victims of Raila’s inability to face off with opponents.
Just By the Way...
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