happened to be in front of Ochieng as they lined up to get a cup of tea, Flo turned to him and calling him by his name asked him why he never spoke to her and wondered if she had in any way offended him.
She then handed him the cup of tea she had just filled from the urn and picked another one to fill for herself. Ochieng was speechless. First, he had to process the fact that she even knew his name and secondly to fathom that she had just complained that he was ignoring her.
Ochieng had to move on to keep the line moving and when she filled her cup, she didn’ t join him but went to her usual crowd but on two occasions he caught her eye and she raised her eyebrows with a fleeting smile. For Ochieng that was Nirvana.
That is how the social butterfly Flo, became dear Flora in Ochieng’ s mind and as if the fates were playing with him, Flo moved schools again and what had seemed to be the beginning of a relationship was cut in the bud. He never saw her again.
Thinking of Flo always reminds Ochieng of a political butterfly that has been a key player in this country’ s political arena for decades and he is bound to eventually enter into its historical folklore as an antihero in the Kenyan political landscape.
Anti-heroes are conflicted, flawed, complex protagonists who do not have typical virtues, values and characteristics of traditional heroes. Though their actions are noble, it doesn’ t necessarily mean that they act for good reasons like conventional heroes.
That definition of an anti-hero from literature describes to a T our very own Baba, the political misfit who has had a
To date people cannot conclusively agree whether Baba is a political reformer or just a cunning opportunist who understands realpolitik. Railaphile is just as real in Kenya as Railaphobia and this political butterfly seems able to land on delicate grounds.
gargantuan influence on Kenyan politics and presently we cannot honestly decide as a country if he is a blessing or a curse.
There are those who love to hate Baba while there are others who are ready to die for him. Whichever end of the spectrum you fall on, the fact remains that he has been a character impossible to ignore with the proverbial nine lives of a cat.
By leveraging on his messianic hold of his constituents, he has cast a long shadow on Kenyan politics and whether you love or loath him the current Kenyan reality has been shaped by his deeds or misdeeds depending on which camp you support.
Ochieng has stated before that Baba may be the only current politician in Kenya to have a constituency, by which he means that he has a loyal following that not only follows his lead but is ready to switch allegiance to do his bidding. He is the ultimate politician.
Although the Luo community makes just a tenth of the Kenyan population, their ability to vote as a block has enabled them to become a major player in a murky Kenyan political arena where ethnicity defines the political ethos of the country.
True, he is a scion of a political family, but he was not the heir apparent since he was not the eldest son but he somehow was the one to have inherited his father’ s political activism and dedication to social justice and he also chose to fight for democratic reforms.
But father and son did not always see eye to eye and at one point when Baba aligned with his father’ s political rival, President Moi, their political paths diverged and the open conflict that emerged is reputed to have culminated in father cursing the son.
Jaramogi, in a moment anger, is said to have publicly cursed his son for betraying the people’ s ideals and told him that he would never ascend to the presidency of Kenya. Whether you believe in curses or not, Baba
has always floundered in his bids.
What seems to have launched his current political career, was his detention after the 1982 attempted coup in Kenya. It is still unclear whether Baba was actually involved in the coup plans but this was a watershed moment for Baba.
His supporters cast him as hero who risked his life to bring about political change in the country but his accusers pointed out that his actions were not only treasonous but they went against accepted democratic principles of changing a regime.
Baba was elected the member of parliament for Langata in 1992 and the duality of being on both sides of the political spectrum simultaneously was a modus operandi that he seemed to have perfected and branded as his very own.
To date people cannot conclusively agree whether Baba is a political reformer or just a cunning opportunist who understands realpolitik. Railaphile is just as real in Kenya as Railaphobia and this political butterfly seems able to land on delicate grounds.
The first of his political double play happened when against all odds he decided to take a political risk by what he then called cooperating with Kanu as he merged his party with Kanu and was subsequently appointed minister of energy.
Being in bed with his former detainer to many seemed an illogical political choice since he had by then already established his iconic reputation as the people’ s defender. There is a disconnect when the defender breaks bread with the oppressor.
Analysts seem to agree that Baba was positioning himself to be supported in his presidential bid and to his dismay President Moi decided to support a political neophyte, Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred candidate. Baba left in a huff leaving Kanu in disarray.