As Raila licks his wounds, Kenyans will be watching Uhuru’s next move

By MACHARIA GAITHO

It is understandable that Mr Raila Odinga came across rather grudgingly in what amounted to a belated concession speech following the Supreme Court judgment that threw out his petition challenging the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s fourth president.

After all, everything had gone up in smoke, and the candidate he thought was the dream rival to trounce at the presidential election turned out to be his worst nightmare.

Mr Odinga might now need plenty of time to ponder what went wrong.

In the meantime, however, he must learn to zip up his mouth for he is prone to costly verbal gaffes.

The latest was that BBC interview in which he appeared to suggest that disillusioned voters would in five years’ time shun the polls and “explore other means”.

The BBC audio became a big talking point for his detractors who are happy to play up the spectre of some dark and dastardly scheme.

However, as it turned out, the BBC tape rebroadcast locally, together with a transcription carried in some newspapers, had been artfully edited to present a skewed version of what Mr Odinga said.

The words “this is what we must avoid at all costs” were left out in some reports, an omission that distorted what the PM actually said.

All the same, it is rather churlish for Mr Odinga to keep insisting that the Supreme Court unfairly denied him the chance to prove that the election was stolen.

If he has accepted the court’s verdict, then it surely serves no purpose to keep adding so many qualifications to his concession.

But if he is really convinced that he lost the election through foul play and he has the evidence to back his claims, then he must turn to the court of public opinion.

Instead of empty whining about the electoral outcome and the Supreme Court’s judgment, he can make public his evidence for the people to make up their minds.

This will have to be incontrovertible evidence that can stand up to the most rigorous scrutiny. Rumours, gossip and ‘manufactured’ stuff of the kind posted on Facebook during the hearings will not do.

It will have to be evidence that will persuade anybody it could have swung the case if admitted by the Supreme Court. If, indeed, it can be shown that the evidence turned away on technicalities would have been enough to win the case, then Mr Odinga will not only shame the Supreme Court, but will claim a great moral victory.

Meanwhile, as he retreats to lick his wounds, all eyes now turn to President-elect Kenyatta ahead of the official installation set for next week.

The Cabinet and other senior appointments that Mr Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, make will give insights into the shape of their administration.

We will get to gauge whether they will live up to the ‘digital’ slogan focused on all that is modern, fresh, new and progressive or whether they will regress into the angry, isolationist and reactionary mode that defined so much of their campaign.

It is already evident that the Western world — which had indicated so strongly it did not welcome dealing with leaders indicted for crimes against humanity — is having to quickly swallow its pride and grudgingly recognise the new leadership.

The Kenyatta-Ruto administration can respond positively to such gestures, or remain stuck in the self-delusion that Kenya can afford to shun the West and look east towards Beijing and Pyongyang.

It is for the new leadership to craft its own domestic and foreign policies, but there is one priority that cannot be overlooked – IDPs.

The plight of IDPs remains a blight on the landscape. Now that Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are a team, the hundreds of thousands of people kicked out of the homes and farms after the 2007 General Election must be facilitated to go back and reclaim the property they were forced to abandon. Anything less, including resettlement elsewhere, would amount to a monumental fraud.

One more thing, President-elect Kenyatta: My son wants his free laptop like yesterday. And he insists he is digital and will accept nothing less than the latest iPad with retina display.

mgaithao@ke.nationmedia.com