How many more times will former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero will be arrested to see any serious convictions by the DPP or EACC?
His latest Friday morning arrest is just an addition to the number of such PR stunts by the authorities to bring the man down.
Prior to the 2017 polls, the former governor was making serious inroads to Nyanza region while leading the mobilization of funds for Raila Odinga’s campaigns many believed he would take over the mantle from the ODM leader.
A section of Nyanza leaders are of the thought that Kidero is the only ideal candidate to be the spokesperson of the Luo Nyanza should ODM leader Raila Odinga retire from politics.
But with the current cloudy ‘handshake’ arrangement with President Uhuru Kenyatta, we may not see Raila retiring any time soon.
“When I try to assess Luo Nyanza politics, I can easily settle on Kidero as Raila’s replacement given his financial prowess. He has also been in management for several years and that counts when you want to control a population,”Kisii based don Nyachieo Bogonko said.
He, however, admitted that the transition may not be easy and predicted little resistance from people who have been in the establishment.
“Some view him as an outsider and the small resistance would be evident. But that is a small factor and may not change things as it stands,” he said.
Unlike ODM supremo Raila Odinga, Kidero wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Dr Kidero an urbanized deployed his political dynamism and magnanimity to clinch the Nairobi governorship seat in 2013 but Raila Odinga staunch supporters had viewed his bid for governorship as ‘spoiler’.
In its effort to teach the former governor a lesson then, the ODM party called for the delegates drawn from Nairobi County to start the process of his removal.
His meteoric rise bespeaks of a man who’s at once cunning, brilliant and determined. He has felled many a mugumo [fig tree] in his life.
Which begs the question – does he have what it takes to dominate and outfox Mr Odinga to become the Luo Messiah?