Amani National Congress Party leader Musalia Mudavadi has his sight set for the Country’s top job. Questions have however arisen as to whether the former Vice President has all that it takes to see off competition from the likes of William Ruto and Raila Odinga.
His community is apparently divided with no clear road map heading into 2022. Sections of the members of his community have thrown their weight behind William Ruto, others Raila Odinga while others like Atwoli have remained loyal to the former Sabatia member of Parliament.
Mudavadi’s own attempts to convince all and sundry that the western Kenya vote is not divided is betrayed by actions of local politicians who portray a totally different picture.
“Unfortunately, the purveyors of this erroneous narrative of ‘Luhyas are not united’ are our own political leaders whenever they pontificate for our competitors,” observes Mudavadi.
In other words, the ANC leader must do his homework on the ground first before venturing out to woo voters from the rest of Kenya.
Even then, being an opposition politician means one must work three times as hard to make meaningful progress towards the throne.
The situation is even harder for the “gentleman of Kenyan politics”, who kicked off his political career in government and who has, over the years, been trying to adapt to political life in the Opposition, the hard way.
The worst part of this experience, according to political scientist Richard Bosire, is that the ANC leader has had to endure the perception and treatment by political rivals and the general public as “an outsider” of opposition politics.
This, explains the University of Nairobi lecturer, has meant that Mudavadi lives in the shadows of veteran opposition operatives like Mr Odinga and the so-called heroes of Kenya’s second liberation.
As long as he remains on the opposition side of the political divide with Mr Odinga, Dr Bosire opines, the ANC leader’s action will continue to be judged according to the marking scheme of the former Prime Minister, and other seasoned, combative and rabble-rousing opposition figures.
But Mudavadi’s style is different and, as he puts it: “I need not be on the streets choking from tear gas to be appreciated as playing opposition politics.”
And being in opposition may also mean engaging in a futile electoral process – whose results, according to Mudavadi, are predetermined.