DOROTHY JEBET: Why Kalonzo can't shake watermelon moniker

 

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s watermelon status will remain for the foreseeable future.

A couple of weeks ago, Kalonzo was hyped, very excited by the remarks of ODM leader Raila Odinga who was addressing mourners during the burial of Tip Tip party leader Kalembe Ndile.

Kalonzo joined President Mwai Kibaki’s government just after the 2007 elections at a time when Raila and co had disputed the results sparking off the post-election violence. This move was seen as a betrayal to those who believed the elections were stolen.

This was when he earned himself the moniker “watermelon”, which he has not been able to shed due to his indecision and self-centredness.

It will be tough for him to ascend to the presidency if he maintains his current attitude to leaders who command massive support like Raila.

During Kalembe’s burial, Raila casually said he would be glad to work with Kalonzo in 2022. To contextualise the issue that has caused an unnecessary uproar, the ODM leader w

as responding to Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu’s appeal to the two leaders to work together to defeat presumptive UDA candidate DP William Ruto.

When Kalonzo stood to speak, he humbly agreed to work with Raila for a common goal. No one nudged him to do so.

He could have said he wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t like someone was holding a gun to his head. He spoke with conviction as he answered Ngilu and Raila on the need to come together.

But, for one who harbours some watermelon tendencies, it is often difficult to stand by your word. I believe Kalonzo’s political henchmen and advisers took him aside after the burial and told him to rethink his words.

That is why he has a different stand on Monday about working with Raila. But he missed the point. Raila never said he would be running for president for Kalonzo to be his running mate.

Whatever Kalonzo told NTV was a figment of his fertile imagination. Where did he get the notion that Raila wanted him as a running mate?

The two opportunities he was tapped for in 2013 and 2017 are enough. In fact, I can say maybe Raila lost in the two elections because of Kalonzo’s track record as a hardcore watermelon, something many voters could not stomach.

By arguing that it would be stupid for him to support Raila, Kalonzo just exposed his lack of vision.

How does he expect a politician of Raila’s calibre to reciprocate? By being his running mate?

Even the gods would go crazy if such an arrangement were to happen. In fact, the world as we see it would topple as soon as Kalonzo makes Raila his running mate.

It is imperative, therefore, for Kalonzo to keep to his lane and stop punching above his weight.

The former VP has portrayed himself as a man who holds political grudges, even when it’s not necessary to do so.

He alleges Raila betrayed Nasa’s leading lights by shaking hands with Uhuru Kenyatta on March 9, 2018, a gesture that brought peace following months of deadly protests over the hotly contested 2017 presidential election.

Where were Nasa’s leaders when Raila needed them the most during the swearing of the People’s President in Uhuru Park on January 30, 2018? The leaders failed to turn up at the venue in support of their Nasa colleague. Now, who betrayed whom?

If Raila were to seek the consent of the Nasa leaders in seeking a peaceful common ground with Uhuru on March 9, 2018, Kenya would still be in turmoil.

These leaders would’ve dilly-dallied for months while the country was burning.

Kudos to Raila for ignoring the watermelons of this world at that most crucial moment for our beloved country. It was good riddance to the fence sitters.    BY THE STAR