NINE REASONS WHY I WILL NOT VOTE FOR RAILA ODINGA

Author : Mike O’maera

Commentary:
This is a piece that has been making its round in Kenya over the last few days.  Definately someone is out to make a big deal out of rumours and cheap talk that has been peddled around by the old guard in Kibaki’s government, and enemies of change.

Our motherland needs a generation change, which will usher in a period of holding our leaders acountable for their deeds, cheap critics will not hold sway nor stop the growth and spread of an ide whose time has come.

NINE REASONS WHY I WILL NOT VOTE FOR RAILA ODINGA

WOULD YOU MAKE PRESIDENT A MAN WHO NAMES HIS SON AFTER A DICTATOR?
Railas son, Fidel Castrol Odinga, is named after the worlds longest serving dictator. Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is the communist who turned Cuba into a third world slum. Why should this be a point of concern for Kenyans? Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is Railas role model. Raila is a communist and a dictator at heart. If we make the mistake of giving him the presidency now he will never let go. This guy will be a life president.

RAILA IS A TRIBALIST AND PARTICULARLY HATES KIKUYUS PASSIONATELY
When someone says something is not about money, it usually is about money, when they say something is not about power, it is about power. Raila is denying -without being accused, at least publicly – that he hates Kikuyus. His earlier comments tell a different story. Remember the comment he made that Uhuru was the only good Kikuyu when they were both in ODM?

Raila tries to defend himself with quips such as even my son (Fidel) is married to a Kikuyu. Lets all remember the rumors that were flying around that Raila was actually opposed to the wedding/marriage on tribal grounds! He saw it as a betrayal by his own son. When the young Odinga held his grounds, Raila had no option but to play along to avoid a public spectacle.

Raila is accusing the PNU of creating Raila-phobia among the Kikuyu. Raila is creating Kikuyu- phobia among everyone else as did Moi throughout his rule.

A SYSTEM IS ACCEPTABLE TO RAILA ONLY WHEN IT FAVORS HIM
Lets go back to Kanus infamous Kasarani One. The blatant Injustices were being done to Kamotho, Saitoti and the rest; they were being robbed of their positions in what Kamotho referred to as uchaguzi wa kupiga makelele. Since things were going Railas way, the great defender of the oppressed did not raise a finger. A few weeks later when the same injustices were to be done to him  Raila  in Kasarani Two, he was running all over the place crying foul. Had he been President Mois choice, would he have said anything?

A more recent case is when Kalonzo and Raila were both in ODM-Kenya and the party was trying to come up with the best formula to pick its presidential candidate. Kalonzo favored consensus while Raila said delegate were the only way. He made all manner of threats if the delegates system was not going to be used. Then, Raila and Ruto ambushed Kalonzo at Rutos house and tried to arm-twist him into agreeing that Raila be president, Kalonzo be VP and so forth. Kalonzo refused, but Raila and Ruto mischievously went ahead and leaked news to the media that Kalonzo had agreed to a winning formula. The point is that Raila was ready to agree to the consensus method only if he was going to be the presidential candidate. After Kalonzos refusal, Raila was latter insisting on delegates while Kalonzo stuck to consensus. Kalonzo later intelligently posed, The meeting in Rutos home, was that a delegates conference?

Ask yourself this: would there have been the pentagon is Raila had not been made the presidential candidate. The only reason why Raila agreed to the nominations at Kasarani was because everything had been agreed upon beforehand. The Nominations were just for show.

KIBAKI TOSHA WAS JUST A STRATEGIC MOVE
Kibaki Tosha statement was not an act of martyrdom as Raila would like to have us believe.

When Raila and the LDP brigade left Kanu, they had two choices: either join forces with the best established opposition outfit at the time, NAK or become politically irrelevant. Why Raila chose to go Kibaki Tosha way had nothing to do with his love for Kenya or his love for Kikuyus as he claimed during the launch of his presidential bid in Uhuru Park . It was the most appealing (and may be only) choice he had at the time. Consider this:

i)                    Raila and the LDP team could not have gone it alone  they had tried in 97 before the Cooperasion  and failed.

ii)                   The then opposition  NAK perceived Raila as a traitor. The only way he could change this perception was through a seemingly selfless act.

iii)                 Raila wanted to take his revenge on Moi  the only way to do this was to make sure that Mois Project did not succeed  even if it meant joining forces with the tribe he hated most. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

iv)                 Raila felt he could extract his pound of flesh from the tired and desperate Mwai Kibakis NAK group  as he did through the infamous MOU, which was simply unimplementable.

DONT POINT YOUR DIRTY FINGERS AT MY SPOTS
ODM is a story of a corrupt family that brought down the molasses plant among other ills. It is a story of bishops who lie without battling an eyelid. It is about people who brought down parastatals such as the Kenya National Assurance. Now since all the scum is defecting to ODM and ODM has no vetting policy for its civic and parliamentary candidates  how can ODM tell us they are going to make a difference?

RAILA SEES CAPTURING THE PRESIDENCY AS AN END UNTO ITSELF
If you have ever listened to Railas famous football commentaries, the goal is usually Raila getting the presidency not what he plans to do for the people of Kenya with the presidency.

Raila has been consistent about one thing: his hunger for power. This should not be confused with struggle for the country or for the people of Kenya . Raila has never told us how he plans to use power to better our lives. All Raila is doing now is to make all manner of promises to everyone. Here are some of them:

a.       Constitution within 6 months

b.       Make Ruto Executive prime minister within 6 months

c.       Majimbo

d.       Free primary and secondary education

e.       13% economic growth (he promises double the current growth rate)

f.        Reduce taxes

g.       Make Mombasa a free port like Dubai

h.       Dual carriage way roads throughout Kenya

i.         Free housing for slum dwellers

j.        Employment for all

k.       Eradication of poverty

Quite a nice list, isnt it? But there is no mention about how he is going to achieve these things. Saying that he knows where the money is going to come from is not enough.

Take the constitution for example. If its making is going to be a people driven, all inclusive process, how can he guarantee that all the interested parties are going to agree on one document within six months? Is he going to ram whatever he likes down our throats in the name of giving us a new constitution? Remember Kenyans are not going to accept any constitution without a referendum.

Take the free secondary and primary education. How are we going to pay for the education and reduce taxes at the same time without running to the donors? And if we go to the donors, isnt that what we are trying to run away from?

Lets be wary about these extravagant promises. Remember: a pessimist is an optimist on his way back from the casino.

RAILA WILL MESS UP THE NSE AND THE ECONOMY
Raila sees the NSE as a symbol of the Kikuyu dominance of the economy. He would like to bring it down as soon as possible. This is why he labeled it a hub of insider trading and money laundering. His reason of doing this is that he will have enough justification when tearing it apart.

ODM is portraying the PNU as a bunch of people who know nothing about constitution making. The PNU is painting the ODM group as a bunch of people who know nothing about the economy. I dont know much about constitution making, but I know that Raila appears to understand very little about the economy.

Chungwa ni chungu

RAILAS SUPPORTERS A DANGEROUS BUNCH
“My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.”

These are the words of Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Anybody who is not pro Raila is seen as an enemy by Railas supporters. Several cases in point are what happened to Tuju, Nasleem and Livondo in different instances in Kisumu and Kibera. Just imagine that happening in the whole country. All the democratic space we have gained over the last few years will go down the drain. Any anti-Raila comment in the radio, on the street or on TV will earn you a proper beating if this man was president.

The tragedy here is that Raila has never condemned this behaviour by his supporters which means he condones it.

Now imagine such people in positions of power. If you need a preview, remember how Gor Sunguh handled Nicholas Biwott during the Sunguh read committee on Ouko. Sunguh shouted down Biwott and hardly allowed him to say anything. In the end all he managed to do is to make Biwott appear like a modern day saint.

I LOVE KENYA
Giving the government to this Raila will be the biggest mistake of our lives. We will be throwing away the gains made so far. Railas extremism is not good for the Country. With Raila in power, tribalism will be felt in every aspect of our lives starting with the plot or kijiji we live in. The words our government will no longer mean what it means now. The bragging has already started with utterances like the government is going to be ours being said by members of a certain community. The cartoonist Gado captured the mood perfectly in a recent issue of the Daily Nation. Whatever you do, make sure you vote. Make sure you vote against Raila. Vote for anyone but Raila. Lets block this communist from ruining our country. The age of dictators in this Kenya is over. Lets keep it buried.

I would like to know how Raila feels about the following two issues. If he became president will he:

Assure John Githongo of his security and give him his job back?
Put his portrait on our money?
 

Some advice for Raila and ODM:

“If the attack is going well, it probably means you are walking into an ambush.”

-          Murphys Law:

The writer is a very concerned Kenyan

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