NASA Presidential candidate Raila Odinga miscalculated his political steps by withdrawing from the fresh presidential poll scheduled for 26th October, 2017. In his usual orgies of creating crisis, Odinga thought by polling out, he would force postponement of the election for another 90 days, until his irreducible minimum conditions are met.
Where did he go wrong?
To begin his missteps, Odinga relied on an opinionated school of thought regarding the withdrawal of a candidate, which unfortunately is not legally binding. Hence, his move does not have any implications on the Supreme Court order to have repeat elections conducted on the date set by IEBC.
Secondly, Raila Odinga failed to wait for Justice John Mativo's ruling on the case filed by Third Alliance Presidential candidate, Ekuru Aukot to have his name included in the ballot. The ruling sets the stage for an apocalyptic preparations for the scheduled poll with or without Raila's participation.
Meanwhile, had Justice Mativo not granted Ekuru's prayers, President Uhuru Kenyatta would have been declared president elect unopposed following Raila's unprecedented pulling out, in accordance with Regulations 52 and 53 of the electoral laws passed in April 2017 under legal notice number 72.
Which way for Raila?
1. It's emerging that Raila's withdrawal is null and void, having failed to do so in form 24A as required by the law. His name will therefore be in the ballot paper, unless he submits the prescribed form to IEBC.
2. Election will go on as planned now that Ekuru Aukot, Japhet Kaluyu, Micheal Wainaina and Abduba Dida have confirmed their participation.
3. Raila's call for a dialogue with the president after his pull out was a miscalculated political fart and an evidence of his deliberate but futile effort to force a 'nusu mkate' government.
4. Broke and desolate, his withdrawal was prompted by the imminent inevitable defeat, after key political lieutenants left him. His former allies are joining Jubilee Party in their droves. Sources reveal that the new development has shocked and depressed Raila Odinga.
Kenya is witnessing the dishonorable end of the doyen of opposition politics, Raila Odinga. His violent legacy that dates back to the time of the failed bloody coup of 1982 will live on.
Currently, there is no any apparent hire to his political throne in the Odinga family, thus the October poll marks the end of the road for Raila Amollo Odinga. His exit from the scene marks the beginning of the end of tribalism, negative ethnicity and dangerous politics in Kenya.
Go away to the deep dungeons of political abyss, Mr Agwambo.