Activist Boniface Mwangi has stepped out via a Facebook post to give his view why the Azimio presidential ship sank, and has offered a suggestion on the next steps Raila Odinga should take,
He begins by blaming Azimio’s overconfidence in the presidential election, as well as grossly underestimating William Ruto as the first reason for Azimio’s loss. Mwangi writes,
“We assumed the victory was ours because President Uhuru Kenyatta endorsed and actively campaigned for Raila and Martha. We failed to do the hard work of strategizing, organizing, and mobilizing our base to come out and vote, especially in our strongholds.
“We failed to protect our agents from the temptation of easy bribes from our opponents. We allowed them to be compromised at the polling stations. We also failed to protect our votes because we had too much faith that the IEBC would conduct a credible, free and fair election.”
Activist Boniface Mwangi and Martha Karua
Boniface Mwangi then blames the failure to effectively sell Azimio’s manifesto to Kenyans and the inability of the campaign secretariat to hold together and make follow-ups,
“Raila and Martha had a good manifesto, which our team failed to sell effectively. The secretariat ignored feedback on how to make the campaign resonate with Kenyans including: withdrawing old men, and people facing criminal charges from our rallies and getting more youthful voices on the campaign stage, and having local leadership at the center stage instead of having one man run the show at all rallies.” Mwangi noted.
Low Voter Turnout in Luo Nyanza
The issue of low voter turnout in Raila’s Nyanza stronghold has kept coming up, with an estimated 10% drop in voter numbers compared to 2017. A sure 700,000 voters in Luo Nyanza failed to turn out and vote, a lapse that can be attributed to laxity among ODM leaders in mobilizing voters to turn out.
A screengrab from a tweep, expounding the low-voter turnout in Nyanza
In his lengthy post, Boniface Mwangi also points to the self-appointed busybodies around Raila’s campaign who made work difficult for volunteers and other team players.
“They trashed feedback, ignored messages, and never returned calls. The Kenya Kwanza team capitalized on our hubris, organized better, worked harder, and got the controversial win.” Boniface Mwangi sadly noted.
The activist then winds up his post with a recollection of Raila’s struggles noting the previous let-downs he had endured in the past elections by people he trusted and his failure to punish those who betrayed him.
Boniface Mwangi then urges Raila Odinga to consider setting up a leadership center to train young leaders.
Azimio One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga
“Raila Odinga is a statesman with vast experience that many can learn from. He can set up the Raila Odinga Leadership Centre to train and prepare the next generation of leaders that can transform Kenya. He remains an inspiration to Kenya, the region, and the continent.
“A beacon of hope for many. He can now inspire a new generation of active citizens to understand leadership isn’t an entitlement; it is a call of duty and service to your country. These citizens will hold all duty bearers to account and demand transparency, and integrity from their leaders.” Boniface Mwangi notes.
Finally, the activist makes a note that President Ruto is the president of the Republic of Kenya, not Kenya Kwanza, adding that he has a responsibility to all Kenyans including those who didn’t vote for him.
