CGH? Given Raila's stature just imagine if he became president

If President William Ruto were to posthumously bestow the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (CGH) upon Raila Odinga, on December 12, 2025, the 61st celebration of Jamhuri, it would be a befitting honour for Kenya’s fallen son and illustrious champion of the second liberation.

The CGH, Kenya’s highest-ranked civilian honour traditionally preserved for sitting and former heads of state and other luminaries, is awarded to individuals who display “exemplary qualities, heroism, patriotism, or outstanding leadership.” Nothing describes the person and character of a man who lived and breathed heroism and patriotism and preached outstanding leadership for the better part of his life.

What’s more, Raila is not only the only Kenyan politician who, thrice, came within a whisker of the presidency. To all intents and purposes, he acted as co-president of Kenya for nearly 20 years. He was, in a sense, the president Kenya never heard.

One is tempted to imagine what a Raila presidency would have been. Would he have imprinted his political DNA on Kenya’s institutions and governance systems, and mainstreamed democracy, justice, equality, meritocracy and the rule of law? Would he have slain corruption, the millstone that has weighed down the Republic since independence, and overhauled Kenya’s police and justice systems? Would his presidency have catapulted Kenya into a modern and democratic state?

Or would his presidency, like that of other well-meaning African leaders before him, have slid into ineptitude, nepotism, corruption, political intolerance and crippling poverty? Sadly, we will never know.

Fortunately, how Raila managed his political parties, friends and foes, how he interacted with local and foreign leaders, and his imprint on Kenya’s legislative and policy processes strongly suggest what kind of commander-in-chief he would have been.

To begin, Kenya’s infrastructural revolution can be traced to his stint as minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing under President Kibaki. His most enduring legacy as Roads minister is the Thika Superhighway, the expansion of Mombasa Road from the Nyayo Stadium to Mlolongo in Machakos County and the ruthless recovery of grabbed public land meant for road expansion.  These actions, probably a reflexive instinct from his training as an engineer, point to the role infrastructure and respect for public resources would have played in his economic and social transformation agenda for Kenya.

As prime minister under the coalition government, two pillars stand out. First, he strengthened performance contracting for Cabinet ministers, strongly suggesting the kind of public service he envisioned for Kenya. Second, his leadership on the reclamation of the Mau Forest Complex at great political cost underscored not just a remarkable appreciation of sound ecological management for economic and social development, but also a dogged determination to execute unpopular policies for long-term national good. The reclamation of Mau Forest underlined a president capable of making and implementing tough political decisions; a leader with an eye for the big picture.

But perhaps, his biggest legacy as president would be equity and social inclusion. Throughout his political career, Raila demonstrated a soft spot for marginalised groups – from religions, women, and the youth, to indigenous communities, the elderly and the poor. For instance, he fought to entrench Kadhi’s courts in the constitution against bitter opposition from powerful evangelical groups, one reason he remained wildly popular at the Coast and within pockets of North Eastern Kenya, where Islam is the dominant faith.

In government and political appointments under his control, he sought to give voice to women, youths and pastoralist groups, and he went out of his way to ensure that his political party, ODM, reflected the face of Kenya. Many social welfare programmes – from sanitary towels for poor school children, to stipends for the elderly, food and fuel subsidies and maternity healthcare bare his signature. There is no doubt that he would have tried to reimagine Kenya into a more cohesive society.

In his last months, Raila spoke time and again about devolution, a subject close to his heart. He demanded that the national government fund counties and hand over devolved functions such as education and roads as required by law. He chided members of parliament for abandoning their legislative and oversight roles for the empty ululation and soft creature comforts accorded by the Constituency Development Fund. In devolution, Raila saw empowered grassroots – with resources, political power and a voice in government.

Critics, however, argue that whereas counties in ODM strongholds should have been the perfect social and economic development blueprint for his presidency, most have performed dismally – especially in the first ten-year cycle of devolution. This is in part due to the manner that ODM – and other political parties – conduct party nominations. This shambolic process has often jettisoned ridiculously inept individuals to positions of power; a bloat to the legacy of a man who espoused meritocracy.

Had Raila won the presidential election in 2022, however, he, like Ruto, would have struggled with the economy. Kenya’s blinding foreign debt and the scars of the coronavirus pandemic would have curtailed his economic agenda and ability to meet the needs of the urban and rural poor who have fervently believed in his ability to “liberate” and deliver them to Canaan. Fortunately, Raila was blessed with the charisma and personal force to rally people to a cause. He might just have been spared the public wrath that the Kenya Kwanza government has faced in the past year.

Raila’s crowning moment as president would, however, have been in geopolitics and diplomacy. His political pedigree would have elevated him to a leading African statesman and placed Kenya on a high pedestal in the place of nations.