Raila Odinga, a veteran Kenyan politician, is running for the presidency for the fifth time in the Kenyan general election scheduled for Tuesday, August 9thousand. He has always been an anti-establishment candidate, but this time he will have the support of his former rival Uhuru Kenyatta, which is seen as his best chance.
Raila Odinga, now 77, has dominated Kenyan politics for almost 50 years. His first years in politics were spent in prison for opposing the dictatorship of President Daniel Arap Moi.
“Raila Odinga is a man who tried his whole life to make Kenya democratic, he spent nine years in prison during Moi, he promised his whole life to change Kenya but he never got the chance,” explains Professor Githile Naituli, a politician. an analyst based in Kenya.
Not one to give up, he spent the 90s pushing for reforms and a new Kenyan constitution, a milestone he helped Kenya achieve in 2010 alongside then-President Mwai Kibaki.
He entered parliament in 1992 and then ran for president in 1997, 2007, 2013 and 2017, although he never succeeded in his presidential bid, insisting he was cheated three times. He told the SABC in July this year that people still wanted him on the ballot.
“People want me to run and also because they feel that injustice has been done to me and what I represent, they believe that I represent change,” Odinga said.
Odinga, a charismatic politician, has the ability to draw crowds and is probably the only Kenyan politician with a permanent constituency of supporters. His way of running politics, however, is seen as pushy and rowdy, probably what the East African nation needs, according to Prof. Nightly.
“We need a bully, I can tell you, to move this country, we need a bully,” adds Knightley
Some believe that age has softened the once bright leader. Others are wary that his decision to agree to a peace treaty with Uhuru Kenyatta could work against him.
“Myself, I am not running against President Kenyatta, Kenyatta is leaving, but the candidate I am running against because I said he represents the past, I said he represents the past,” Odinga concludes.
Odinga is still pushing his reform agenda. He will be 5thousand time lucky? His meeting with fate is Tuesday, August 9thousand.
