Baba has left a deep hole that will remain unfilled for decades

Baba has rested. And it is felt intensely. Those who understand the depth of his supporters’ devotion were not surprised by the display of anguish, and even the commotion when his body landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). It was devastating. 

Baba had walked himself into the plane on his way to India, but had come back in the cargo hold. The surprise was that our intelligence and security services had not expected and planned for Baba’s return. They should have been able to allow Baba’s people to truly express their sense of loss while mitigating some of its more adverse outcomes.

They should have recognised that the limitation of the mourning period to 72 hours would add fuel to an already raging fire.

It will take wisdom, tact and innovation for our security and protocol services to manage the next two days, allowing Baba’s people to mourn him as a cultural icon and a community leader but also as a national and global statesman.

It is impossible to adequately capture the legacy of Raila Amolo Odinga in a newspaper piece. Raila, once described as the enigma, was a complex individual.

I first heard of Raila around the 1982 coup. In those years, he was either being hauled to court, being detained, or escaping to exile. By the 1990s and the second liberation, he was a household name: fearless, progressive and the undisputed leader of a nascent opposition.

One cannot discuss the transformation of Kenya from a one-party system to a liberal multi-party democracy without referencing Raila. Raila would eventually become a towering giant of Kenya’s politics, being a close runner up in five presidential elections.

He would serve as a formal Prime Minister in the Grand Coalition government and as an informal “co-president” to Presidents Uhuru and Ruto in 2017 and 2022.

While his patriotic credentials were never in doubt, he consistently and predictably shocked his supporters when, in 1997, 2017 and 2022, he went into “handshake” arrangements with his former foes. Some considered it a betrayal. Those who knew Baba however understood the complexities that informed these decisions, including a deep love for Kenya and a pragmatism borne of decades of struggle.

Those handshakes, in many instances, pulled Kenya from the abyss and enabled the country additional chances to further its democratic transition. No one doubts, for instance, that Tinga’s dalliance with Mwai Kibaki in the Grand Coalition government  enabled Kenya to pass the 2010 Constitution. Raila’s greatest contribution to the Katiba was its progressive devolution provisions.

Those who were involved in the process know that his foes on the PNU side were sceptical of the devolved system, which they associated with the infamous “majimbo”.

Raila’s acceptance of PNU’s much loved presidential system made it easier for the latter to accept, albeit shingo upande, the devolved system.  Up to his death, Baba was a fervent supporter of devolution, often criticising his coalition partners when he felt they were regressing into a centralised governance system.

As Prime Minister in the early days of the Constitution’s implementation, Baba aligned with the progressive forces within government, pushing for more constitutionally compliant laws, often against the wishes of coalition partners.

Baba was also a continental icon. It was amazing to see the people’s reaction to him during the State funeral of Malawi’s vice president Saulos Chilima. The crowds cheered Baba more than they did any other speaker.

This adoration was true wherever he appeared, whether in the West or Southern parts of Africa. He was Kenya’s best export. Without doubt, Baba leaves a gap that is impossible to fill. He leaves his millions of devotees orphaned, with no successor able to truly fill his giant shoes for the foreseeable future.

Raila leaves ODM in limbo, struggling to find an identity that enables it to work in a broad-based government while retaining its distinctiveness as a progressive alternative.  He leaves Kenya without a stabilising centre able to work with his political enemies and call a restive country to order.

Love him or hate him, one must recognise that Baba has left a deep hole in Kenya’s politics, and the ramifications of his departure will be felt for decades.

Baba iweyo wa  malit. Nind ni gi kwe Jakom! Your death cuts deep Jakom. Rest.