William Ruto is today a living example of what Mike Tyson said in his boxing career when he asserted that “everybody has a plan until they get whacked in the mouth”.
Ruto had a plan called bottoms up and he preached it all over the country for more than three years and then Raila and the Azimio coalition came into the electoral competition and put their agenda on the table and now after six months of that contest the DP is lost and reduced to daily crying about his boss Uhuru. What happened to the plan? Ask Tyson.
Probably one of the events that will have a big impact in this election was Azimio team going through Rift valley ending with a magnificent rally in Eldoret. It was the typical Azimio rally with everybody from the crowd to the Azimio leaders dancing, talking, and having a great time together.
There was no growling, no shouting, no faces twisted in anger, no threats, and no abuses whatsoever. Just a straight message of we are one Kenya and an Azimio government will work hard for everybody. From the reaction of that crowd they believed them.
Nobody knows what votes Raila and Azimio will get from that whole tour but one thing is clear. This was a reminder to all Kenyans that we are one nation and the time for ethnic rivalries is over. Whoever runs the country must do so with a vision that we are one nation and all Kenyans have the same hopes and dreams for their lives.
That is a crucial message at a time when their are some voices preaching acrimony and building fake tensions which they think can help them politically. The country needed this voice now and Azimio delivered on that. Good for them and good for the country.
The beauty of this message for the Azimio team is that today and tomorrow when they visit different communities across the country there will be a sense among those communities that they are talking to Azimio that is a force for the unity of all Kenyans and many people will want to be part of that unity of the republic.
That is the single most important item in this election because nothing can be achieved for the people of Kenya without that unity of purpose and of the country. It was wonderful for the country to see that live.
Now Azimio has to focus on that need for national unity as a key piece as they continue to present their agenda for Kenya in the next few days to the election. The country needed that call badly and more so right now as we have one week to the election. Keep it up.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
