It is getting increasingly difficult to sympathise with the leading lights of the Orange Democratic Movement party. Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi are engaged in a battle to determine which one of them will lead the party to the next general elections. William Ruto, still one of two deputy leaders of the party, is having a hard time persuading the rest of the country that the United Republican Party is a viable vehicle for electing the next President. Meanwhile, Prof Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, the Minister for Medical Services, is having a hard time persuading the striking nurses of Kenya to go back to work. He has made several intemperate statement, even being interviewed on TV to demonstrate that he is serious about the need for the nurses to toe his line. Because Mr Mudavadi and Mr Odinga are unable to come to an arrangement that would sort out the method of choosing the party leader, ODM's National Delegates' Conference has been postponed several times, leading many to assume that the two leaders are hellbent on rigging the outcome of the conference in their favour.
In 2005, during the last referendum campaign when Samuel Kivuitu's Electoral Commission of Kenya divided the Yes and No Camps into Orange and Banana, the Orange Movement was a cohesive, big tent that united a large proportion of the country behind their vision. Then, even Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka were solidly behind in the Orange Movement opposing what many presumed was Kibaki's coterie's power grab in the guise of the Wako Draft. As with all political maneuvering in Kenya over the past 15 years, Uhuru Kenyatta ans Kalonzo Musyoka split from their erstwhile Orange partners, Uhuru retreating to the comfort of his mother party, KANU, and Kolonzo Musyoka attempting a palace coup and running away with the registration documents of the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya, forcing Raila Odinga, William Ruto, Najib Balala and Musalia Mudavadi to regroup in what eventually became the most popular party in Kenya. Even that semblance of political bonhomie did not last; William Ruto, unable to receive the recognition he sought, especially in light of the loyalty he had demonstrated after Kibaki's 're-election', sought to split the party, attempting at various times to pull out all the Rift Valley MPs of the party, or to take over the United Democratic Movement Party, and finally settling for the URP.
Now, it is Musalia Mudavadi's turn. In 2002, he stuck to President Moi's script and remained Uhuru Kenyatta's running mate even when Raila Odinga had led a rebellious bunch to the NARC bandwagon. For his temerity, the good people of Sabatia sent him packing. He learnt his lesson in 2007 and stood by Raila Odinga as his running mate, not only recapturing his seat, but also getting appointed a Deputy Prime Minister when the National Accord was signed between the government and ODM. Now he has gotten it into his head that he is the equal of Raila Odinga in ODM and has decided to challenge him for the party leader's position, and the opportunity to lead ODM at the next general elections. The two have spent the past three months traversing the nation meeting 'ODM delegates' and shoring up support in the 47 counties. One gets the sense that the thousands of delegates they have been meeting owe their loyalties not due to the ideologies espoused by the two leaders, but due to the 'inducements' they may have received.
In the absence of a credible manifesto and ideology, the only thing that distinguishes ODM from the briefcase political parties in Kenya is the popularity of the Prime Minister, Raila Odinga. Without him, indeed without Musalia Mudavadi too, the party is a mere vehicle for the naked power grab that characterises politics in Kenya. While Mr Odinga is likely to share in the successes of President Kibaki's government over the past four years, notably the promulgation of the Constitution in 2012, he is also likely to be tarred with the brush of the ethnicisation of the nation in the same period. He must also shoulder the blame for the corruption and impunity that has followed the government like a bad smell since Mwai Kibaki became president in 2003. So too must Musalia Mudavadi. They are yet to demonstrate that they are willing and able to slay the twin dragons of impunity and corruption. Mr Mudavadi may have survived the cemetery scam, and The PM may have survived the Kazi Kwa Vijana scandal, but neither demonstrated a willingness to be held to account for what went on in their respective offices. Rather than leading from the front, they buck-passed with alacrity and ensured that hirelings and minions carried water for them. Their contest, if that is what it is, for the leadership of the party is devoid of the serious intellectual political debate that this nation sorely needs. Without it, they are unlikely to lead this nation in a bold new direction if elected president. Therefore, it is not easy to sympathise with the travails of the party today, if ever.
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