Uhuru, Raila and Kalonzo triumvirate has rattled Kenya Kwanza » Capital News

A day in politics, they say, can make such a huge difference. In fact, just a few weeks ago it looked like the elections in 2022 was for the Hustlers to lose. But things have since taken a different turn and even though supporters of both sides can’t discern how the other can win the elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka triumvirate seems to have rattled Kenya Kwanza big time.

But at the perception level let us be real it is important for Raila Odinga that Kalonzo Musyoka has endorsed him because the galvanizing effect of this is very big. The strong wing of Jubilee that has the reins of power has teamed up with two of the strongest principals from NASA in Azimio la Umoja and this coalition is up against the Kenya Kwanza coalition, which is made up of the dissident wing of Jubilee and two shell principals from NASA.

The crowning for Azimio has to be Hon Martha Karua’s choice to team up with Raila Odinga. Naturally Martha and Raila are ideologically cut from the same cloth and if she had gone any other way, it would have been a big indictment of Raila Odinga’s reform tradition. Pretty much the same as the value of Kalonzo Musyoka. We know what Kalonzo brings in terms of numbers, but were Kalonzo to join Kenya Kwanza or take his own path, he would have gone with much more than what he brings and credit to Baba and President Uhuru Kenyatta for bring in both Kalonzo and Martha Karua. The bitterness in Kenya Kwanza is therefore understood: Raila Odinga is building a winning team and President Uhuru Kenyatta has managed to convince these key leaders that a united Kenya is more important than all of them.

For his efforts, the President seems to have sent the Hustler Nation into a frenzy with some utterly unethical campaign strategy that now targets the president with insults from his own backyard. Absurd from leaders who are role models!

The truth of the matter is that the Hustler nation losing gravitas in the run-up to the elections and even though their leader is a political colossus he does seem to be at the end of his political wits if the manner in which both he and his lieutenants are now going overboard with attacks on his boss.

Today, if the Chief Hustler was to win the presidency, it will not be because Mudavadi and Wetangula joined him. It will definitely not be because a few leaders from Mt Kenya have decided to support him. No. It will be because of him and his campaign. Now, don’t get me wrong because as I’ve said, a day in politics can make or break a solid team. But certainly, the last few campaign rallies have taken away a huge chunk of Mt Kenya votes that would have otherwise gone to the DP. Maybe some of the reckless utterances are poised to hoist him up for failure.

You see, the Chief Hustler built a very loyal group of hustler supporters who believed in his brand of bold, articulate politics that brought Kenyans from all walks of life to believe in one common denominator, that their tribe is hustling and that by pulling together they can address their plight and climb to the top. He underscored his messaging with a vivid illustration – he rose from selling chicken to the top. From a young man who did not have shoes growing up to a deputy president at the high table with the son of the first president. This sold until recently when the affront on the President took a new high and his stock is driving to a new low. 

The advice he gets that counsels him to go to the president’s backyard and attack or allow every other speaker to attack Raila Odinga and the president with reckless abandon is probably damaging the capital he has built for the last 8 years or so. Simply put, since the handshake, the bulk of the electorate in Mt Kenya, especially women and ardent congregants in different churches had been imbued with this false narrative that President Uhuru Kenyatta had betrayed the son of Surgoi, who has stood with him and did so when all and sundry had deserted the president. This narrative was so entrenched that the bigger picture of the gains of the handshake after the tumultuous 2017 elections was politicised to create the illusion that there was a dynastic clique in Kenya and a dichotomy of the haves and the have nots. This was anchored on this weird undertone that the haves or dynasty are responsible for the plight of the have nots.

But today, it seems like the reality of what informed the president’s decision to part ways with his deputy is buttressed by the DP himself. The anger, the vitriol and the choice of where the hustler nation goes to mount their savage attack on the president is actually reminding the Mount Kenya hustlers that the president is and has all along been right. 

One thing that characterizes Kenya’s voting pattern is giving power to one of their own or one who belongs. Today, what the Hustler is doing is making it clear to Mt Kenya hustlers that when they vote against the President, they will not only be giving it to one who does not belong, but a powerful politician who has made it clear that his biggest enemy is the son of Mt Kenya.

The author is a PhD Candidate in Media Studies and Political communication.