Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta shook hands to end a political standoff following last year’s controversial election photo: GETTY IMAGES[/caption]
In our series of letters from African journalists, Joseph Warungu reflects on the plight of supporters of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga following his reconciliation last month with his bitter rival, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
One of the games I enjoyed a lot in my childhood was called “kauka” in Kiswahili, which roughly translates as “freeze”. The idea was, you would go about your normal business until your play partner shouted “freeze”. This command forced you to stop dead in the middle of whatever you were doing, and keep very still until your friend “unfroze” you. The strategy was to catch you in an extremely awkward, embarrassing or uncomfortable moment, such as having your mouth wide open with houseflies hovering nearby. Unfortunately some “froze” you, then forgot to bring you back to life. This is what former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has done to his huge army of loyal supporters. Although last month’s public handshake signified a political truce between Mr Odinga, and his arch-rival President Uhuru Kenyatta, and brought calm and a sense of relief in Kenya following last year’s disputed elections, opposition supporters have been frozen since 9 March and are waiting for a sign from their leader.Joseph Warungu: “It’s been eight months now and Mr Odinga is yet to unfreeze his supporters from the sexual abstinence. They’ve girded their loins, waiting for a sign.”
Raila Odinga, whose supporters affectionately call him “Baba”, is a master strategist and an excellent political mobiliser. An engineer by training, he also has a deep understanding of human systems. He has after all been detained for years and spent time in exile for his tireless pursuit of democratic reforms, freedom and equality for Kenyans. He can rally millions to any cause and keep the momentum until his goal is achieved. But he sometimes forgets to unfreeze his backers, either when the objective is achieved or when there is a sudden change of plan. In mid-July last year, just a few days to the general election, he asked his supporters to freeze all sexual activity until after the election. He was quoted in the local media saying: “All women should deny their husbands conjugal rights on the eve of voting. This will ensure that we wake up early to vote and remain vigilant until the results are tallied and announced… then you can have sex to celebrate victory.”
Who is Raila Odinga?
- Aged 72, son of Kenya’s first Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
- Nicknamed Agwambo (act of god) by supporters
- Trained as medical engineer in former East Germany
- MP for Africa’s biggest slum, Kibera, for 20 years
- Plotted coup in 1982
- Holds record for being Kenya’s longest-serving detainee
- Also for switching political parties – currently standing for Nasa
To many of his die-hard fans, the veteran leader’s word is law. So it is safe to assume marital beds were dead silent in large swathes of the country. And we’re talking many beds, given the fact that in the last three presidential elections since 2007, the opposition leader officially managed to win almost half of the total votes cast. In the controversial August 2017 election, victory didn’t come as anticipated, and he boycotted the repeat election in October, arguing that without certain key reforms in the electoral system, there was no prospect of a credible poll. So it has been eight months now and Mr Odinga is yet to unfreeze his supporters from the sexual abstinence. They’ve girded their loins, waiting for a sign. He also successfully mobilised his supporters to boycott the repeat election and they dutifully obeyed. One week after Mr Kenyatta was declared winner of that second election, Mr Odinga announced a plan of economic boycott reminiscent of that against apartheid South Africa. He named three prominent companies, among others, that his supporters should resist, including the dominant mobile phone operator, Safaricom. He saw this as a safe way for his people to challenge Mr Kenyatta’s legitimacy. Five months later, some of his supporters are still resisting the products and services of the targeted companies, waiting for a sign to stop the boycott.