2012 draws closer and the politics get interesting. Before 2002, the politics revolved around Moi and KANU. In 2007, they arguably revolved more on tribe than Kibaki. In 2012, they will certainly revolve around one Raila Amollo Odinga, better known as RAO, to the online society.Here is one man who has generated unprecedented amount of love, hate, suspicion, phobia and charisma within and without Kenya. It is no surprise that outsiders think he is 'his excellency' when they visit Kenya. Tame Raila and several heads of state will sleep well. As expected, forces will come together to try and defeat this one man. Others will come to be counted as having been with RAO. The headache for the Right Honourable gets worse by the clock. Who to keep, who to fight and who to bring on to TEAM RAO. The following is an ingredient that Raila can only improve on without subtracting if he wishes to be in state house in one and a half year's time.
The first and most important part for such a situation and with the stake been so high, DO NOT lose any more friends. for the past several months, RAO has been losing friends faster than he has been making. With only one year before the election, that's a big no no.Hold on to the few remaining and give them a sense of safety in that TEAM RAO is still the team to beat. Been the football fan that you are, I'm sure you've heard of Jose Mourinho the motivator. The reason he won the King's Cup, against the best team in the world was his ability to motivate his team. Those were his own confessions. It wont take long for Shebesh and Mbadi to stop screaming if they smell defeat. There is however a catch to your ability to motivate, you also have to be motivated.That brings me to the second ingredient.
How do you motivate yourself? The greatest motivation a politician can get is seeing people burning in the sun as they wait to listen to him.Definetly people will come out to see you as they always have. However, there is one component of the public rallies that has been missing for quite some time now, your escort. What will people think when the Right Honourable is accompanied by an assistant minister and two mps. This also has an effect on your esteem and motivation and going back to no.1, you need self motivation for you to motivate TEAM RAO. It is also not right in the public rally to only have members of your backyard in your escort. You have to look into this, but of course for you to have a strong escort, you must have a strong team.
A strong team will not be built by first timer mps unfortunately. As much as several politicians are decorating their CV's in your camp, I would not really advice you to include them to your starting team. The politicians with a name already would make a better team. By better I don't mean in service delivery were you to carry the day, but in been acceptable in the eyes of the people. As much as it may tempt you to bring Sonko into team rao, DO NOT. Ababu is okay but not ready for the main mainstream. The politicians who can take you to state house are the likes of, Balala, Ruto, Mudavadi, Ngilu, or in short, if you can stitch back the pentagon, do it.
Thirdly, there are some regions you cannot afford to lose. with Nyanza in the bag, You must be the most comfortable politician, no other person can boast of such. However, Nyanza will not deliver state house, it may help but any one will tell you that state house will come from: Western, Coast and Rift Valley. Don't expect anything from Central, expect between a third and a half of Eastern and maybe a half of Nairobi. That you may not be able to change, but on the first three provinces, you can change. Western is arguably yours to lose. With the slight headache in the clothes of Eugene Wamalwa, you can pull a 70% victory. By the way the only medicine to Eugene is assuming he is not there. Never contemplate mentioning his name in public and he may never even make it to parliament next time. If he jumps to your ship however, welcome him and make it clear from the word go that his seat is at the back. To the coast, you have several options. Substitute Balala for Joho or decide to keep Balala. I may not give you very sound advice on this one. The migraine is in the Rift Valley. How on earth are you going to bring Ruto to TEAM RAO? That I don't know but I know that he is a very key ingredient for state house. I tend to believe it would be better for you in the Rift if Ocampo fails.
Kenya is changing, and especially with the aftermath of 2007/8, some people became more nationalistic. Without a doubt you are the one who strikes a more nationalistic figure of all the frontrunners. That must be safeguarded and only improved. Association with other nationalistic leaders may also do you well. Why can't you bring Peter Kenneth, Martha Karua, Gitobu Imanyara and Bonny Khalwale to TEAM RAO, just a thought.
Raila phobia is much entrenched than you may imagine. The only way you may calm people's nerves to the mention of the name Raila, is by showing them your other 'human' side. Appearances on TV, not on political missions but on private affairs may boost your image. You may have heard that your appearance on Churchill live was an online trending topic. As a matter of fact, national politico's small post on you and the song Kigeugeu went viral and quickly became the most popular post. This shows the interest your private life generates. Just let it out and you may gain some ground.
Sure you have heard of facebook, everyone is there. You cannot miss an opportunity to address the best attended rally am sure.Get active on facebook. By this you will beat your friend Ruto who keeps on referring to age, yet he is not active on facebook either, as his age should dictate. Also you may catch up with Martha, currently leading the pack (Kenyan Politicians on Facebook) and Uhuru also closing in. Been probably the busiest person in Kenya, brain wise, you may not have time to keep on updating, sharing photos and poking friends. However, you may hire someone to do it for you. All you will have to do is to write a short sentence before you sleep and the pap!.
Finally, pay attention to small details. Some of the commentaries your adviser Miguna Miguna writes fall short of impressing. Make sure he does not overdo it. He may be writing ill of a person who you may run to for votes.
The ingredients are many but the ones above cannot be substituted. Want a strong TEAM RAO, then improve on them.
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