By George Bamu

The next general elections in Kenya, which encompass parliamentary and presidential candidates, are scheduled for sometime in December. Though the exact date is yet to be announced by the current administration in Kenya, the race is heating up. One presidential candidate is Raila Amolo Odinga, a leader in the Orange Democratic Movement and a member of parliament representing Langata, a suburb of Nairobi.

Kenyan Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga, with Wellington Webb in background

Odinga spent the last days of summer in Colorado, where an estimated 500 Kenyans live. Accompanied by a delegation of supporters including parliamentary member Kipkalya Kones and candidate Jacqueline Adhiambo Oduol, Odinga went around the Denver metro area talking with the media, shaking hands with friends and citizens of Kenya, and jockeying for increased business and investment relations between Kenya and Colorado. He met with students and academia, explaining his economic and political plans for his nation. He has made trade with other nations, employment, and the eradication of poverty some of his campaign themes.

During his visit, Odinga participated in the Kenya Economic Forum at the Clarion Hotel in Englewood, gave a presentation at the University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies, and headlined an African Forum at Metropolitan State College. His schedule also included a church service at the Park Hill United Methodist Church.

Visions of Change for Kenya
Odinga is promoted as a liberator and candidate for change in Kenya. The popular stories passed around describe him as a man who was imprisoned repeatedly, mostly in solitary confinement, without trial in the ‘80s and ‘90s for his efforts to end one-party rule in Kenya. Some see him as a maverick in Kenyan politics. Other reports compare him with Nelson Mandela and the struggles to free South Africa from Apartheid.  Odinga has not only been attacked by enemies for his vision of reform, but he’s also received death threats, after which he fled the country to Norway in 1991.

True to his character, while in Colorado, Odinga was calling Kenyan reporters pressing the government to announce the date for the elections and not wait until the last minute.

In person, Odinga appears astute, confident and fierce, gentle and passionate, concerned but determined about Kenya, Africa, and the future. The look in his eyes conveys an energy and zeal to see his wishes, dreams, and aspirations to be president come true someday. He ran for president in 1997 and came in third, after then President Daniel Arap Moi and current president Mwai Kibaki.   

“I was in Colorado about 30 years ago as part of the Denver Nairobi Sister Cities International, but this time I am not here for any pleasure but rather to help bring change to my country,” he told the Denver media.

“This was an opportunity for me to listen to Mr. Odinga and understand his vision for the Kenyan people,” said Marsha Mallory Bennet, chair of the Nairobi Sister Cities committee, which helps with fostering educational, economic and cultural exchanges.

“Africa is not a lost cause, and Africa has a chance and can be developed through the efforts of the African peoples,” said Odinga, who came here at the invitation of the Friends of Leadership, Development and Governance (FLDG), the African American Leadership Institute, and the Denver Urban Spectrum.

Because the institute is a leadership organization, “Our effort is to help organizations like the FLDG to organize and carry out leadership and development activities that would benefit communities such as the Kenyan community in Colorado,” said Linda Williams, outgoing president of the institute.

A Promise of Urban Renewal and Health Care
“I want to bring about economic change in our country,” Odinga said when asked how a visit to Denver would help the people of Kenya.

He was referring to both economic and political change. He plans to help with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), put in place by the African Union to foster trade and development amongst African nations. He plans to make that happen by utilizing all opportunities and potentials that Kenya’s strategic position in Africa offers it, he said.

Odinga pointed to the eastern seaboard of Kenya, bordering the Indian Ocean between Somalia and Tanzania, which makes investment, trade and commercial activities with other nations possible. As president of Kenya, he said, he would make better use of those opportunities for the benefit of Kenya.

Kenya’s eastern seaboard is a strategic location to export to markets in Europe and the Middle East. Recently, that region has been the focus of plans for a $1.5 billion telecommunications submarine cable expansion from Kenya to South Africa, according to U.S. economic intelligence firm, Global Insight. If completed, the undersea fiber optic system will offer high-quality broadband connections for industries and businesses.

Another of Odinga’s goals is to seek opportunities outside of Kenya to help with what he called “urban renewal” in Kenya, and to tell the world about the opportunities for business in Kenya. For this reason, he held meetings with South East Denver Business Association members, Colorado Black Chamber President and CEO Wellington Webb, and representatives of the Centennial Airport.

“Economic ties between us here and Kenya are really very important. Investing in great ways is really very important,” said Geta Asfaw, an Ethiopian immigrant to Colorado and successful entrepreneur who hosted a VIP reception for Odinga. “Africa in general and Kenya in particular, we are not trying to do business with, as Americans. It’s untouched and open. Only China is trying to do business there, but it can be a big opportunity for us.”

Odinga’s visit included a tour of the Project CURE facility, a nonprofit organization based in Centennial that has distributed medical supplies to over 100 nations. Odinga hopes to partner with the organization to help bring medical supplies and other equipment to Kenya.

When asked about health care in Kenya, he said one of the first things that he would do as president would be to make health care more accessible to the citizens of Kenya.

Recent statistics show about 1.5 million people in Kenya carry the virus that causes AIDS. Adults with HIV/AIDS make up about 6.7 percent of the population, based on 2003 statistics. Odinga confirmed the statistics were true, but said he would intensify the campaign against HIV/AIDS if elected president.

Human Rights and the Olympic Games
More than anything else, talk about the upcoming elections in Kenya dominated conversations during his Colorado visit.

“Kenya has been independent for the last 43 years but it needs more change and reform,” said Odinga, the son of Kenya’s first vice president after Kenya gained its independence from Great Britain on December 12, 1963.

Odinga is probably the election’s biggest proponent for change under the platform of the Orange Democratic Movement, formed after the 2005 Kenya constitutional referendum. He helped engineer the defeat of the government-drafted constitution called the “Wako draft,” which would have concentrated more powers in the hands of the president. He was fired from the government as a result. 

To bring change now, he would promote a new constitution in the “Bomas draft” that would “divulge power away from a single branch of government and make government fair and accountable to the Kenyan people,” he said.

When asked how he plans to win this time, given that there are several other parties with very formidable candidates in the race, Odinga said, “I have what it takes to win if we are given a fair chance,” and added, “If I did not have a chance, I would not be in the ring.”

If he succeeds to become president of Kenya, his plans are to “create a democratic space for Kenya, empower women, empower youth, trade with countries, and protect human rights,” he said.

He would like to bring the Olympic Games to Kenya someday, he said, explaining, “Kenya is such a great nation when it comes to sports.”

To bring the games to Kenya, he would follow the example of South Africa, which won its bid to host the World Cup Soccer in 2010. If South Africa could host such a big event, it means Kenya can host the Olympics in 2016, Odinga quipped, adding that it would happen if he becomes president.

Kenya is famous for producing world-class long-distance runners, including winners in the 10-kilometer Bolder Boulder race in Colorado. In 2007 alone, three major marathons – Boston, Rotterdam, and London – were won by Kenyan men.

An Afro-Optimist
“I believe in the ability of the African peoples to come together,” Odinga responded when asked if he supported the move towards more regional integration among African nations. Many Africa experts have said the idea is far ahead of its time, but Odinga – who described himself as a “Pan-Africanist” like Kwame Nkrumah – sounded optimistic that “Africa has the capability to unify culturally and historically in spite of all the things that make it seem divided.”

Discussions at Metropolitan State College focused on issues of ethnicity and so-called tribalism that is engrained in Kenyan politics. Whereas tribal connectivity engenders a vibrant culture, for many Kenyans, it is the source of much conflict. If elected president, Odinga said he would not only help make Kenya more united, but he affirmed that “Africa can and needs to unite.” 

Odinga hails from the Luo tribe, the nation’s third largest ethnic group and the same tribe as Barack Obama Sr., father of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Beyond tribalism in Kenya, Odinga’s talk was much more about liberation for the nation of 36 million people; the Kikuyu's, Luhya’s, Luo’s, Kalenjin's, Kamba’s, Kisii’s, Meru’s, and other tribes.

“Odinga is a Kenyan, not a Luo,” he told the crowd at Metro State. 
Referring to Odinga’s vision, Dr. Lucas Shamala, a Kenya native and a professor of African studies, explained, “This is the beginning of true liberation for Kenya.”

When Odinga talked about Africa’s past, he recounted the history of slavery and colonialism during the periods that he called “the worst periods in Africa’s history” and the Mao Mao rebellion in the 1950s.

“Now that Africa and Africans have freed themselves, the gigantic task of nation building requires the consolidation of forces to change our mentality,” he said.

Changing mentality requires that Africans “make maximum use of its natural and human resources to improve the wellbeing of its peoples,” he said.

The president of the African Students Association representing Metro State, Community College of Denver, and University of Colorado-Denver, Patrick Ssebikejje, expressed dismay about the way Africa is treated by the media, in spite of all the positive changes happening on the continent.

For a long time the continent suffered the indignities of colonialism, slavery, and exploitation not only from Europeans who did not allow Africans to form unions, but also from African peoples in what Odinga described as “Africans against Africans.”

“The oldest human fossils were discovered in Kenya and I am proud to be a descendant of the pyramids of Egypt,” he said.

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