Fear of Raila Odinga’s Presidency by US Imperialism
Because of the huge interest the West has in Kenya, anybody seeking to become President of our Republic has traditionally had to get the green light from the West. Mwai Kibaki won elections in December 2002 and took over from Moi through an unstoppable mass movement that had formed around the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). Imperialism did not have any control of the situation or the political process, nor did the West have a lot of time to know and understand Kibaki before he became President. What was known from his political profile was that Kibaki was not a communist. To ensure that the new President would follow the footprints of Moi when it came to perpetuating pro-Western, pro-liberal policies in Kenya, Kibaki was accorded a lavish State visit by President George Bush soon after he seized power, a high-profile visit that Bush had not accorded other African leaders who preceded Kibaki. The point was to underline to the new boys who had taken over at State House that Kenya belongs to the United States and its allies.
Western powers feared Raila Odinga, not because of his politics but because he was the son of Oginga Odinga, “a communist”,459 and under the circumstances, trusting Raila could be difficult. This fear came up in several leading Western publications that questioned Raila’s ability to lead Kenya, given his background. When Raila Odinga was waging his campaign for State House in 2007, he understood the concerns of the Americans together with those of other imperialist powers. The main fear of imperialism was that once he seized power, Raila’s unpredictability could include opposition to pro-Western, neo-liberal policies in Kenya that had been implemented by Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki through massive privatization programs of profitable State enterprises, implementation of pro-capitalist reforms that had weakened the Kenyan State and left the country’s economy in the hands of Western multi-national companies.
The three previous Presidents had implemented measures that had deprived the Kenyan government of its ability to generate revenue internally to finance vital public services that were either in a state of disrepair or had collapsed altogether. In his campaign speeches and interviews, Raila went out of his way to assure Kenyans and the West that he was committed to privatizations and that his politics leaned more on “Social Democracy” as opposed to communism that his father and himself had come to be associated with. Quoting Raila, The Nation wrote: “On whether he was a communist and adhered to teachings of the forefather of communism Karl Max, the Lang’ata MP said he was not, and has never been a communist”.460 When addressing Western concerns during campaigns, Raila’s strategy was to dissociate himself from his “communist past” or “radical profile” that is believed to have taken him to detention under Moi. At the domestic level, Raila enjoyed mass support but he understood that this grassroots support was not enough to deliver victory at the polls, especially if the West was uncomfortable with him.
His response was to try to sooth the West by sending signals to the effect that the leading banks and huge Companies that were in charge of the Kenyan economy (including the Nairobi Stock Exchange) would not be tampered with under his leadership.461 The West knew and trusted Kibaki more than Raila because of two reasons: Kibaki was a known capitalist who built his business empire while playing golf and associating with the big fish in the high seas of capitalism. Secondly, by December 2002, when Kibaki won Presidential elections, he was already too old while the government was in the hands of the Mount Kenya Mafia, which held the real power under Kibaki’s Kenya. It was therefore unlikely that Kibaki would pull any revolutionary surprises in the cause of his Presidency and although he rigged elections through ECK in December 2007, imperialism was much more comfortable with another Kibaki presidency, the Kibaki they knew and not that of Raila, the “communist” whose leadership had never been tested in government. Raila’s so-called “ruthlessness” had allegedly been witnessed when he was Minister of Roads, Housing and Public Works. He earned the wrath of many members of the Kikuyu upper class when he pulled down houses that were illegally constructed on road bypasses that the government had decided to reclaim.462
There is no literature or political Program linked to Raila that suggests that his political thinking leans towards communism. His “communist past” is purely by association to his father, his studies in East Germany, his naming of his son after Fidel Castro and a radical past that is believed to have been responsible for his detention by Moi. In reality, there is absolutely little documentary evidence that can be associated with Raila and that could be used to argue effectively that he has been a communist. Even in his biography, which was released shortly before the December 2007 elections, there is nothing to suggest that Raila has been associated with a communist Party anywhere or published material that could point to a communist or Socialist thinking. It is possible that Raila may have had interest in communism or even harboured communist ideology. However, he has not been able to express these beliefs publicly either willingly or unwillingly. What is known is that Raila is currently a property owner and one of the few millionaires in Kenya with vast business interests inside the country. If one examines Raila’s property-owning profile, he fits more into a bourgeoisie democrat than a daredevil communist ideologue who could seize power and nationalize property of the rich and powerful in Kenya as the basis of wealth re-distribution. Western fear of Raila as a communist was thus unfounded or based on a bogus theory that may have sprouted from the fear of the unknown.
Compared to Moi or Kibaki, Raila Odinga was relatively a new comer in Presidential or power politics and it is true that the West did not know or understand him. Oginga Odinga, Raila’s father, was blocked by imperialism from ascending to the Presidency through divide-and-rule tactics that saw him fall out with Kenyatta who later sent him to detention, and put him under house arrest before confining him to political cold storage. Raila is more or less like his father, fiercely independent minded, strategic and farsighted. Having gone through baptism in prison and detention without trial and with the profile of a former “coup leader”, could the United States trust Raila with Kenya’s Presidency?
Prior to the election date in December 2007, the Western media ran a series of articles highlighting Raila’s alleged past connections with communism. His education in Eastern Germany, which was considered a communist country, was linked to his father’s socialist ideology to pin him down as a “Leftist” — why? Because the West is not comfortable with communism, which has routinely been subjected to battering at every opportunity. At the family level, the fact that Raila named his son after Fidel Castro was used by critics to further paint him as a bona fide communist who was now seeking to become Kenya’s President with the consequence that several Western interests could be threatened. My view is that this fear could have been behind America’s early congratulation and acceptance of Kibaki soon after Raila’s Presidency was stolen. When Imperialism noticed that Raila was actually part of the solution to the crisis following the stealing of his Presidency, they refused to support him openly with the United States government proposing that he share power with Kibaki “in a Government of National Unity”. The tenets of democracy were thrown out of the window as Raila, the winner, was encouraged to share power with the loser because of imperialist fears.
Raila Odinga’s Stolen Presidency pages: 310-313
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Kenya belongs to the United States and its allies.UK ,EU,Canada,Australia etc.(you got it right)
When will it (kenya) belong to wakenya(their right owners)?
(why do the Wasomi(Elites) or the people of kenya fail to grasp that ?Why has Raila failed to organise a guerrilla Movement like Garang,Museveni to fight a bush war using his fiercely independent minded, strategic and farsighted. Having gone through baptism in prison and detention without trial and with the profile of a former “coup leader”, could the United States trust Raila with Kenya’s Presidency?
A country with over 75% youth sitting idle (just observe) the number of youth attending CORD & JUBILEE meetings by using such Youth Power effectively (organized) nothing would stop you from taking Power in Kenya whether the west imperialism likes it or not!
There is weakness collectively (perhaps lack of thinking, patriotism, born wiklings ,fear, cowardness, religion opium myth ,lack of clarity of ideals , foreign domination , (mixing libels ,right wings ,arnachists, marxists , farcists,political hores etc in one bag)
As we can see the Wakenya awareness is pouring in almost every oppressed Mkenya minds as (The Holy Ghost) there is hope that very soon a real true and genuine Revolution will take place in Kenya whether the oppressive class likes it or not.
Thank you for sharing such a very interesting and perhaps a little depressing article. Much to think about and absorb. I always look forward to your blog postings.
At the same time let the Ksb leaders enjoy how thugs in a capitalist prasite(kenya) deceives the common poor oppressed mwananchi and how helicopter gangsters has to preach Ukasuku to wakenya.