HOW AZIMIO LA UMOJA SHOT ITSELF IN THE FOOT.

 They say , a wise man learns from errors/mistakes of others. Even before NTV senior political reporter Kennedy Mûríithi was planning to spill the beans, maize , millet , sorghum, wheat etc on why Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua lost the August 9th presidential elections, I have buried myself deep on this issue especially after , sibling rivalry in Azimio camp between Jubilee Party former legislators and losers in that election and their counterparts in the ODM traded accusations and blames on each other. Mûríithi will air his expose on Monday in the 7 and PM news segments. Raila Odinga lost to Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential candidate William Ruto who garnered 7.1 Million votes against Raila who got 6.9 Million votes. In a contest where opinion poll firms always placed Azimio candidate ahead turned the opposite after the polls were concluded on 9th , August. To date , Raila and Martha Karua still maintains there were external factors that rigged them out. On this one , Raila Odinga and his daughter Winnie Odinga believes US government had a hand in their predicaments.

Azimio la Umoja was very organized. It had a very functioning presidential secretariat and a council which was its nerve centre. With enormous resources and a wealthy politburo on it side and armpits, Azimio la Umoja bangled its campaign strategy in a big way. The UDA party which was part of political parties that made up Kenya Kwanza Alliance was very organized especially in Mt Kenya region and the Rift Valley. In every village, shopping center, drinking den and makeshift eatery joints , you would feel it. Its merchandise was all over. Ihíí ( boys) in the village went around donningin that party regalia. Women , who firms the backbone of political campaigns were wrapping their waists with lesos of this party. The mind resonates with the eyes easily through what the eyes sees. By ensuring the yellow fever was spreading like bush fire in the dry savannah , Kenya Kwanza Alliance through UDA was able to decimate Azimio la Umoja very easily. 

In many regions especially Mt Kenya region , it was difficult to draw a line between Jubilee Party and Azimio la Umoja. I witnessed this when the Azimio la Umoja caravan toured my Constituency. It was difficult to know whether it was Azimio la Umoja or Jubilee Party rally. The place was painted red. This was fatal because, as it turned out, majority of the mountaineers had no problem with Azimio la Umoja per se but the Jubilee Party itself. The Azimio campaign merchandise in this region was sporadic. In every 10 people donning in Kenya Kwanza Alliance colours, only 1 person or none will be seen wearing Azimio la Umoja outfit. For avoidance of doubt, Jubilee Party was a party in Azimio la Umoja and not Azimio itself. That's what they failed to differentiate in the GEMA nation region. In Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Western and Ukambani, Azimio la Umoja colours were all over. That's how the voters here formed a close chemistry with it and its presidential candidate. How this happened when there was a secretariat and a council still remained a mystery. With a bangled chained of command because of sibling rivalry and egoistic approach of some Azimio la Umoja top honchos, their opponents took advantage of their disorganization. Filled that void and managed to win the hearts and minds of many voters in their fold. 

iThe Youth wing of the Azimio la Umoja was in disarray. It cannot be spared either in causing the mess.  The isolationism and lack of elaborate organisation skills enabled the Kenya Kwanza Alliance youth wing to deconstruct them with zero chills. In my County of Mūrang'a, there was no robust Azimio la Umoja youth wing to traverse the 7 Constituencies. As a person who was passionate in campaigning for Azimio la Umoja, I didn't see one. Again, Jubilee Party wasn't Azimio la Umoja but a party to it. The fatal mistake is , Jubilee Party only centred in Campaigning for its candidates but isolated the Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate. For sure , when UDA political candidates were putting the portrait of William Ruto in their campaign posters , those in Jubilee Party didn't even attempt and if there is one , the only thing which appeared is letter R for Raila. Game shot. Another bunch of Azimio la Umoja Youth wing was just hopping from one 3 star hotel to a 4 star holding endless press conferences. Were votes in the press conferences in hotels or in the ground? If your candidate isn't felt by the ordinary voter in the interior of your village , do you have any moral authority to lecture anyone on how to plan a campaign strategy?

Raila Odinga too shot himself in the foot using his very own gun. As Jubilee Party roasted itself during party primaries which, instead of blending both a candidate popularity strength through a well defined opinion poll and a universal suffrage of one man , one vote process, the party ended up conducting opinion polls through social media handles. It ended up backfiring in a very catastrophic manner. ODM Party bangled its nominations in its strong holds especially in Nyanza and western regions. Instead of allowing for a democratic process to take place , the party honcho prevailed over the voters by imposing unpopular political candidates to them. Since they couldn't have voted for William Ruto inorder to punish Raila Odinga, they decided to give the polling stations a wide berth. In an election they were expected to turn up in larger numbers in a thuraku ( ants) manner , they showed the ballot the ballot their backs. Also , the backlash and pain that Jubilee Party meted on the aspirants of various political seats by extorting them their hard earned monies made them to vote for the Kenya Kwanza Alliance not because they believe in it but to vent their anger. Nomination exercise of both ODM and Jubilee Party who were key stakeholders of Azimio la Umoja one Kenya Alliance coalition party and their failure to come up with measures to address an eminent fall out from this political candidates who felt shortchanged costed them big. For UDA, it was able to address that issue very swiftly. To them , the bubble didn't burst as it did to ODM and Jubilee Party.

The supremacy of who will control millions of shillings of campaign funds in Azimio la Umoja was the last nail that Azimio la Umoja campaign secretariat drove in its coffin of miseries. People fight when disagreements arose in sharing of resources. With all those millions in Azimio camp as compared to their opponents Kenya Kwanza Alliance, they didn't manage to change the tide in their favour. In various regions especially in Mt Kenya region, the war escalated to appoint it was playing in the public domain. There were party functionaries in Jubilee Party who couldn't see eye to eye. Now tell me , how can a team with such people deliver? How??? Even as the accusations and counter accusations continue to suffice, one thing is , Azimio la Umoja should handle their loss as a collective responsibility. Let them agree all of them share a position of blame. If you didn't win , then , why point finger to the other yet it was a collective task?

As we wait NTV political reporter Kennedy Mûríithi to savour our Jamhuri Day on Monday at 7 and 9 PM , the end in Kenya Kwanza Alliance justified the means. They were organised and had a well robust chain of command. It secretariat was equal to the task. Whether the allegations of rigging and biasness from IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati is occupying hectares of space , the one thing even those in Azimio la Umoja should admit is that , their opponents outfoxed them. Raila Odinga was left holding a bullet cartridge and the bullet missed the target even after using a gun with a point of intersection. The crusade that was started by Oburu Odinga that they have a system on their side was akin to a stab in Raila's heart. That worked against them because locals there , who passionately supported Raila didn't see emthe need to go to the polling stations and vote? What for? If the very system that have been denying their son presidential seat from 2007 is in their side , them, this time round it was a sure bet. This kind of reasoning was bad. It is like a football team scoring at 11 minutes and decides to defend that goal upto the 90 the minute when their opponents quest to win is high. Azimio la Umoja should now put it house in order but if their coming together was only about to prevent William Ruto from rising to the throne, it will crumble like a model of clay soil which is subject to hot sweltering sun.