Junet Mohamed, in his eulogy for the late Second (and Longest-Serving) Prime Minister of Kenya, the Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga, Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart, took to heart the allusion to Raila Odinga's "Orphans". He noted that there were so many of them, he would organise them into a group and become their chairman. Amidst the humour is a nugget of truth: Prime Minister Odinga was a force of nature who touched millions of hearts and changed millions of lives.
We will have all the time in the world to parse together the life and times of Prime Minister Odinga. For now, we must contend with the void that his death leaves in the politics of Kenya. Prime Minister Odinga has been a consequential politician since the day he was accused of participating, and sponsoring, the 1982 attempted coup d'état against Daniel Toroitich arap Moi.
Those of us who came of age in the 1990s only came to know of him when he was released from detention in 1991 and the pivotal role he played, first at his father's side, and later as an Opposition politician in his own right, in the Second Liberation of Kenya. Few will deny him his flowers; Prime Minister Odinga was a key figure in the reintroduction of Multi-party Politics in Kenya, the constitutional reform movement that resulted in the abortive 2005 constitutional referendum and the successful 2010 constitutional referendum.
Prime Minister Odinga built a formidable political identity, one that has seen dozens of national politicians gain fame, wealth and power. There isn't a politician sitting in the Parliament of Kenya today whose fortunes were not shaped by Prime Minister Odinga. The same is true of county governors, past and present, and dozens upon dozens of local politicians. One either made their name by vehemently and vociferously railing against Prime Minister Odinga or by riding in his coattails to the seats of political power.
Presidents bent to the inevitable: in order to govern, and govern effectively, they needed Prime Minister Odinga, if not on their side, but not in opposition. The Raila Odinga Handshake was the most reliable political insurance policy a president could have. Moi, Kibaki, Kenyatta the Younger and Dr. Ruto - all of them came to the same inevitable conclusion and their governments enjoyed a stability no other politician, themselves included, could provide.
Now that we have buried Prime Minister Odinga, we are in uncharted waters. Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka, one of the senior-most politicians who transcended the same political period as Prime Minister Odinga lacks that charisma and political sure-footedness that Prime Minister Odinga displayed. Ms. Martha Karua, one of Prime Minister Odinga's lawyers when he was persecuted by Mr. Moi, has the political spine, but not the common touch that endeared Prime Minister Odinga to millions. No one else has even the lickspittle of a chance to become the force of nature that Prime Minister Odinga was. We are in uncharted waters. Will Prime Minister Odinga's "Orphans" find among them a champion to carry forward Raila Amolo Odinga's dreams for Kenya?
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