Their hate is the key to understanding them

Let us admit that while there may be legitimate political and policy differences between Raila Odinga and the Gang of seven, their battle is an emotional one. The Gang of seven has one everything in their power to ensure that the Prime Minister does not get to win. Period. Messrs Ruto, Kenyatta, Musyoka and their acolytes may have legitimate reasons why they think they would make better Presidents than the Prime Minister, but their campaign rhetoric and other public statements are infused with a level of hate that Kenyan politics has not seen since Jomo Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga went toe-to-toe in the 1960s, so much so that the current battle between the PM and the G7 is seen as an extension f the Kenyatta-Odinga battle.

Their foot-soldiers have taken this to heart and their public statements are riddled with the stench of a personal war run amok. It remains unclear why the Gang of Seven is so opposed to an Odinga presidency, especially under the new Constitution. Mr Odinga's credentials include early opposition to President Moi's autocratic tendencies. He has credible executive experience and his international connections may well benefit the nation in the years to come. Messrs Kenyatta and Ruto, on the other hand, are tainted by their close association with the Moi regime, especially Mr Ruto who was a notorious foot-soldier for Moi's 1992 election victory. While Mr Ruto has been lauded as an effective manager in the ministries he has served, he is still associated with the fiasco of the Maize Scandal in 2008 when thousands of Kenyans starved to death while billions were lost or stolen in a maize import scam at the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr Kenyatta's stint at the Ministry of Finance has not been free from controversy, the latest only being the accusation that he failed to abide faithfully by the Constitutional provisions on public finance. Meanwhile, Mr Musyoka will not walk away from accusations that he betrayed the Orange cause when he decided to stand for the presidency despite the Orange popularity of Mr Odinga and his deal with the PNU in the aftermath of the 2007 general elections did not win him friends.

It is the personalisation of the battle between the PM and his opponents that fuels the fire of the speculation surrounding the 2012 general elections, and not the issues that must be addressed before and after the next general elections. If these issues are not highlighted, the next elections will be a personal battle between the PM and the Gang of Seven (if they still remain allies). Kenya will be the loser. Without a candidate to articulate their hopes and fears, the campaign will serve to whip up emotions that Kenyans have demonstrated they are incapable of managing. When we are called upon to defend individuals, or to defend our idea of ethnic superiority (or victimhood), neither logic nor common sense serves to call on our better angels. The Raila-G7 war can only end in tears if the emotion is not removed from the conflict.