OPINION: Is Raila’s role in opposition politics waning?

Beyond the bravado and cheering that met the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the Kamkunji grounds, the role of the opposition paragon continues to be elusive.

Since his electoral loss to President William Ruto in the 2022 General Election, the opposition figurehead has remained silent on a number of salient national issues.

No formal counter-narrative to the government's position on the economy, national security, the rising cost of basic goods and services and corruption has been instituted.

The opposition remains an ad hoc collection of parties with no ideological platform to counter the government narrative, provide oversight to State House or offer Kenyans an alternative national vision of how things would be different under an Azimio Administration.

Why is Raila’s role in opposition politics waning?

Opposition parties are supposed to provide the government with oversight, pick and vet candidates for elective positions, organise national politics, construct alternate national visions to the status quo and create platforms for candidates to run on.

They provide accountability for the politicians who are elected and aid in the complicated organization of government.

With just over 100 days of the Ruto administration, the opposition is in disarray. It has failed to bring together coalitions of interest groups to facilitate a process of checking the sitting government and prepare Azimio for the 2027 elections.

Instead, several of the key members of the Azimio coalition have defected to the Kenya Kwanza side of government. Kenyans are eager to hear from Raila Odinga, the de facto leader of the opposition, about what policy platforms the opposition will use to keep the government in check as well as policy platforms that will provide Kenyans with an alternative government in the years to come.

As it stands, the opposition is applying the same tactic deployed in 2018, after Raila’s controversial loss to Uhuru Kenyatta, to petition for political power using the streets of major urban centres.

While it is the legitimate right of every Kenyan to demonstrate, the tactics employed by the Raila faction only serve to keep Kenya on a permanent electioneering footing with no policy initiatives advanced in Parliament by the elected representatives of the people to rescue the country from unfavourable economic conditions.

Why is Raila’s role in opposition politics waning? This conundrum is yet to be answered. In truth, there is no answer to this question as there is no constitutionally sanctioned position for the de facto opposition leader in the constitution.

He is not an elected member of national or county government and seems uninterested in nomination to legislative politics. With this scenario in mind, the next few years are going to be a repeat of those gone past.

Opposition politicians with no elective posts make themselves relevant to themselves and their supporters by engaging in mass actions on the streets via demonstrations.

2023 is a new year that demands a new brand of politics to solve the pressing problems that bedevil Kenya’s poor. It is imperative that a legally constituted role be found for Mr Odinga to change the nature of Kenyan politics from that driven by a cult of personality to that of policy.

Prof Monda teaches political science, international relations, and American government at the City University of New York (York College), New York, USA. dmonda@gradcenter.cuny.edu @dmonda1. www.davidmonda.com