The only reason Dennis Onyango had to explain the presence of Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi in the Ruto-USA trip is so that he (Wandayi) is SHIELDED from the petty ODM politics of ‘andhoke/andhoga’ that the party has perfected on anyone seen to ally, support or recognize the presidency/government of William Ruto.
Had we accepted that our democracy institutions, imperfect as they are, mandated Ruto to run Kenya; there would be no explanation on something so obvious.
Hon. Wandayi is the seniormost constitutionally recognized political leader in Kenya outside the executive.
Kenya’s pure presidential political system has no ‘opposition’. In parliament (NA), Wandayi speaks second and ranks third. He is supported in this role by the government of Kenya, which assigns him a staff count of more than 15 officers (including Dennis Onyango and Gabriel Oguda) paid for by the government of Kenya.
What am saying is that Wandayi is a government official, and a very senior one. In fact, he is the seniormost elected government official outside UDA/KK. He is a constitutional office holder. That means he derives his powers from the constitution directly. How he gets to sit in that office is a different process, but once he does, he has no one above him to direct him what to do or not do – he only ideally should have the constitution of Kenya as his guide. Any consultations he makes while in that position are merely perfunctory.
At the risk of sounding excessive, in the eyes of the constitution of Kenya, Wandayi ranks above Hon. Raila Odinga. But each society chooses how certain realities are lived, hence, in Kenya, he still has to get permission elsewhere.
This press release should be a wake up call. That it was necessary to explain how Wandayi found himself in the US, but still gloated over the facts, is not surprising to me. Such contradictions have become normalized in the Kenyan opposition.
The opposition will win power by educating its base to understand the totality of power dynamics in Kenya, and the constitutional arrangements that underpin our politics, rather than continue perpetuating deliberate ignorance with half-truths so as to maintain a long suffering base.
A political base built on ignorance will always remain rickety on an election year. Those with ears, let them hear.
Post-script 1: Those explaining how and who invited Wandayi to the US, please spare us the BS. He’s there because Ruto is there. He is part of the biparliamentary delegation backing Ruto. The governors there are part of the Council of Governors delegation backing Ruto. It is that simple, folks.
Post-script 2: Politics of andhoga/andhoke is primitive politics that I hope ends with this trip. It is a politics that ODM politicians use to destroy their own members. In the end, it only leads to voter apathy.
Post-script 3: Ruto in e rais, tem atema iger Kenya…kuma ichopoe ng’ato biro kwanye gi kanyo. Gini en relay race.