By Onchari Oyieyo
The unwritten code among warriors and freedom fighters is to “never abandon a brother.” Stories to showcase this commitment can be found in most cultures. The late John McCain, one of the most respected American senators and war heroes, turned down freedom from the Vietcong, insisting that his fellow prisoners be set free too. Dedan Kimathi is fondly remembered by his fellow MAUMAU comrades for always sneaking back to rescue captured or wounded colleagues. Fidel Castro and Che Guevara applied the same code as they battled Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga would not accept an offer to form a government after the British acquiesced to Kenya’s self- rule, setting Mzee Kenyatta’s release as a precondition. This is the soldier code: Nothing should make you abandon a comrade in arms.
But it seems Miguna Miguna, the firebrand intellectual heavyweight and legal bulldozer who boldly administered Raila’s oath as the People’s President, committed total sacrilege that saw Raila abandon him. While Miguna Miguna is not the only victim of Raila’s abandonment of his colleagues-the timid Musalia Mudavadi, the spineless Kalonzo Musyoka, and the unpredictable Moses Wetangula were abandoned too, it is the abandonment of Miguna Miguna that has left many Kenyans scratching their heads, not knowing how to view Raila. Popular opinion out there is that Mudavadi was against the Raila oath as were Musyoka and Wetangula, and this can perfectly justify Raila’s decision to do business with Uhuru without consulting them.
But why did Raila do almost nothing to shield Miguna from the humiliation he was being subjected to in a legally unsupported deportation?
As a matter of personal opinion, I would like to state right from the outset that Miguna Miguna is among the very few Kenyans who possess purity of ideology when it comes to the political, economic, cultural, and social liberation of the country. He is in a very tiny club peopled by the likes of the late George Moseti Anyona, the late J.M. Kariuki, and the late Pio Gama Pinto.
As he swore Raila in as the People’s President, Miguna Miguna appeared resolute and steadfast, more than even the man taking the oath. Equipped with human psychology and the functioning of those in power in most third world countries, he understood that President Uhuru would not let the country go up in flames, and that the oath would lead to the negotiations he felt had to take place between Raila as the People’s President and President Uhuru Kenyatta. This came to pass, but long after the prophet of the sequence had been deported to nowhere.
Raila, it seems, was not keen on taking the oath. The people around him, including the so called co-principals, were adept at putting up courageous faces in public but in private they were not ready for what they considered treasonous. This pushed Miguna Miguna to the margins, inevitably making him an ideological extremist. This happens all the time when a gallant man, a courageous and bold warrior is in the company of sniveling cowards. The normal turns abnormal, the ordinary becomes extraordinary, good is converted to evil, grey is labeled black, and the righteous are persecuted.
Having realized that only Miguna acted normal after the oath, Raila, with the encouragement of his legion of cowards, felt lawyer and unrepentant advocate of absolute democracy is the wrong man to work with. The activities the abrasive lawyer engaged in as he tried to rally international voices around the bungled elections were wrongly perceived by the small in mind in the CORD coalition as an attempt to position himself to inherit Raila’s constituency as the septuagenarian nears retirement.
As the insecure elements in Uhuru’s administration sought characters to crucify to send a message of ruthless handling of those out to undermine the government, CORD coalition members unleashed whispers of betrayal that saw the lawyer get picked on. His acerbic tongue and inability to know when not to fight played right into his captors’ hands, leading to the deportation drama.
With all the nonsense Kenyans were fed with regarding the deportation, I still insist that Miguna is a Kenyan citizen, and with his valid Kenyan identification card, no sane official would have dared declare him an illegal alien. Remember we are talking of the same Miguna who had been cleared to contest the Nairobi County Gubernatorial Contest. Did the IEBC clear an illegal alien to run for Nairobi governor?
Miguna endured all the humiliation and torture like Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka during and before the Biafra crisis-not because he wanted anything for himself, but because of what he had done as Raila’s foot soldier.
Did Raila do enough? My answer, which by the way is shared by 60% of CORD members and 80% of Jubilee members is “No.”
Why did he not do enough?
Intolerance!
Raila, a man with a long history of political activism, can be thin-skinned at times, turning pale at the slightest criticism. Miguna Miguna’s insistent advisory that he need not be scared may have made Raila feel abused by the lawyer hence the disaffection that characterized his unenthusiastic attempt to help him resolve the nonsensical deportation issue.
Remember this is the same Raila who wanted to deputize the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa in Ford Kenya, but after he realized that Wamalwa preferred lawyer James Orengo, he quickly changed his mind and contested for the chairmanship, a move that eventually split the party with Raila exiting to form the National Development Party (NDP). Orengo had to endure a moment of political isolation and alienation as punishment for disobeying Raila, who does not tolerate “disrespect” and “disloyalty.”
More than a year down the line, Raila is practically a Jubilee member, moving in-step with President Uhuru. The negotiations that Miguna had foretold came to pass leading to the handshake. No one has bothered to look into the fake deportation.
All Miguna does is type as many abuses as he can on Facebook and Twitter, describing Raila as “The People’s Conman,” calling all Kenyan Patriots to Action, advising them to “Say No to Ujinga,” and sharing his conviction that “Despots Must Fall.”
Unconfirmed sources intimate that President Uhuru has a liking for Miguna Miguna and cannot mind having him come back. This is not surprising given that Uhuru is not insecure and has always seemed to have the ability to absorb criticism.
Can we say the same of President Uhuru’s “brother,” Raila Odinga?
Miguna Miguna seems to have created a dedicated army of revolutionaries from around the country if the popularity of his Facebook posts is anything to go by. When is he coming back to direct these followers into meaningful action?
We shall know this in the fullness of time.