This time round Prof Makau Mutua is surely right: Miguna Miguna's departure as Prime Minister Odinga's advisor on coalition affairs was a move that had been long delayed (Why Miguna Miguna's sacking was long coming, Sunday Nation, August 21, 2011). The reasons Prof Mutua advances are surely right too, but the most cogent is the fact that Miguna Miguna attempted to be greater than his principal. He should have taken a leaf out of the books of Prof Kivutha Kibwana, President Kibaki's advisor on constitutional affairs, and Caroli Omondi, Prime Minister Odinga's go-to man when there is trouble in the Prime Minister's Office. Many will quibble with the manner Mohammed Isahakia sacked Miguna Miguna, but political operatives will appreciate the reality of the situation: the consiglieri cannot overshadow the godfather.
Prof Mutua's advise for Miguna Miguna is also sound: he should go quietly lest his loud departure be seen as a direct challenge against the Prime Minister. If his intention is to seek an elective post after his service to the PM, or if it is his intention to inherit Mr Odinga's leadership role among the Luo of Kenya, he should swallow his pride and depart the field of battle. If it is true that he has offended the nabobs of the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya, his time outside the PM's Office should allow him to begin the long and arduous process of mending fences and re-building the coalition that existed prior to his employment. If he fails to recalibrate his relationship with the PM and the ODM, especially its MPs, he runs the risk of being a footnote of history and a laughing stock of not only his peers, but also of the whole nation.
Mr Miguna epitomised what was wrong with the manner with which the Coalition Government operated. Outsiders continue to view it as a sack full of rabid cats, constantly fighting for whatever advantage they may find. In his dealings with his counterparts in PNU, he did not look out for the best interests of the ODM; rather, through his public statements, he sought to create the impression that the PNU was populated with idiots and that everyone who did not see things his way was a moron or had ulterior motives. It is this combative nature that poisonously pervaded relations between the coalition partners. Prime Minister Odinga must have realised that the poisoned air between the partners had something to do with the way the relationship between the two was cultivated by, among others, Miguna Miguna, and he is now seeking to mend fences as we enter the home stretch to the next general elections.
If this is so, he may be attempting to create an atmosphere of goodwill between him and the President with an eye to seeking the President's endorsement, or in the alternative, prevent the President from endorsing any other successor. If anyone can inherit President Moi's canny ability to foresee his political future it is the Prime Minister. His recent activities paint him as seeking the best political settlement for both him and his party as the country maneuvers itself into the 2012 election cycle. He has taken politically significant steps to clean house in ODM, to address the famine in parts of the nation and to shore up his political base among the residents of Mount Kenya. But in allowing his PS to remove Miguna Miguna from his inner circle, he has began the process of re-branding that may see him recapture some of the ground he has lost to Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as well as place Kalonzo Musyoka in a difficult position regarding his relationship with the President. One way or the other, the PM is laying the ground for what will be a make or break campaign and regardless of new polling data from dubious sources, it is a matter of time before the tea-leaf reading class comes to the same conclusion: count Raila Odinga out at your peril!
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