Raila Odinga has carried many politicians on his battered back but the most unlikely one has been his own brother, Oburu Oginga.
Unlike Raila who physically exercises daily and therefore mostly fit, Oburu is a senile 80-something-year-old with a weak, failing frame. He walks by supporting himself against nature. And because he has refused to use a walking stick, his speed is slower than that of a baby learning how to crawl.
If Oburu’s physical infirmities are forgivable, there’s no doubt age has caught up with his mental acuities. Among the things he knows clearly, however, is that his name is Oburu Oginga and that Raila Odinga is his brother. Beyond that, the world turns dark, like in the book of Genesis just before God said ‘let there be light’.
Oburu adds no value to both Raila and ODM. And Azimio.
In a country increasingly hostile to dynastic political families, Oburu’s insistence on being nominated to sit in parliament’s employing entity is a slap on the face of younger leaders with energy, passion, and need for such slots.
Oburu is serving his last time as an elected leader.
Whether he is aware of it or not, Oburu Odinga will not be re-elected in Siaya, or for that matter, anywhere in the Republic of Kenya. Having spent more than thirty years in parliament cumulatively, it is time for others to have a piece of the blue sky.
Oburu has this penchant for guilt-tripping Raila, his younger brother. Raila then feels obligated to give him whatever he desires. That’s how Oburu has always earned his ticket to parliament. When Bondo people rejected him in 2017, Oburu forced Raila to nominate him to EALA, serving until this year, when he abandoned the position to vie as Siaya Senator.
Earlier in 2013, it was Oburu who made Oduol Denge to not become Siaya Governor, as he couldn’t accept that he had lost the ODM nominations. In the end, he forced the party to pick his decoy, the lazy Cornel Rasanga, whom he could remote control from the bedroom of his younger wife.
In Siaya, Oburu is among the many reasons for the county’s voter apathy. That he was uniquely unqualified to vie yet ODM still forced him on voters made many voters rebel by staying at home. Matters were made worse by the nomination of another old geezer, James Orengo, as the County’s governor candidate.
Azimio, especially ODM, is facing an existential internal hemorrhage as younger leaders become increasingly restless, spoiling for a fight with the old guard.
Oburu should have let another younger leader become PSC commissioner, out of respect for his age and as his gratitude to a generation that still voted for him, despite his advanced age and senility.
Greed is a bad thing.
Raila must not reward Oburu again.
But knowing these people, shame means little to them.
Sad. Very sad.
