The Flame of Freedom. This autobiography takes a deeper look at the former Prime Minister, from his childhood, his life journey, family and mostly, his political struggles that landed him at the pinnacle of Kenya’s leadership. Published by Mountain Top Publishers, the book is likely to dominate discussions in the country for the next couple of weeks. What this latest release means is that Raila, however his critics might wish him away, is never far from the pulse of the nation. The book covers only up to campaign time for the March 2013 elections, which will be a bit of a disappointment for readers looking to know what Raila thinks about the elections, which he contested at the Supreme Court. Raila and his supporters maintain that the 2013 presidential election was stolen from him. He however insists in detail on the 2007 election, which he again disputed and whose outcome led to the post-election violence that currently has President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in The Hague answering to charges of crimes against humanity. Many will be interested in knowing what Raila has to say about The Hague process, the ensuing investigations and former prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, given that supporters of Uhuru and Ruto claim that he had a hand in taking the two to The Hague. Political analysts also believe that UhuRuto duo played the Hague card to their advantage, which in effect means that this is the single most contributor to Raila’s loss at the last elections.
Moreso, Raila’s version of events during his time as Kibaki’s co-principal in the coalition government was a mere figurehead in that government in spite of the fact that he was supposed to be an equal partner with Kibaki.
The sensitive topic is of the failed 1982 coup against former President Moi’s government as it was first brought to the limelight after Nigerian scholar Babafemi Badejo wrote Raila’s biography titled Raila Odinga: An Enigma in Kenyan Politics, which was released just prior to the 2007 polls.The Flame of Freedom places Raila at the thick of things regarding the coup. It will therefore be interesting to know what, Raila, in his own words, has to say about this dark period in Kenya’s political history.
The Flame of Freedom, is written with the help of former journalist Sarah Elderkin. Elderkin penned a series of articles, defending Raila, in the Daily Nation following the serialisation of former Raila adviser Miguna Miguna’s book Peeling Back the Mask, which took an unflattering look at the current leader of CORD.
This book could be offering a rebuttal to the damage, if any, Miguna’s book did to Raila’s image.
Raila Odinga Junior moved the audience when he said how as a young boy, he only came to meet his father for the first time at the age of nine years when he was released from prison."I used to hear about him from my siblings and relatives and at time see his photos. I saw him for the first time when he came home at Kenya High with the media in tow and then knew who the bearded man who was hugging me was".
In one of the excerpts, Raila revisits the day retired President Mwai Kibaki nominated, Chief Justice, Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions which he opposed with Kibaki being forced to withdraw the names following a ruling by then house speaker Kenneth Marende who ruled that the nominations were unconstitutional.
"I fell to the Speaker to make a ruling on the matter, which he did against Kibaki. There was heated discussion in parliament and Uhuru's anger at being thwarted led to one of his famous table-banging episodes. Kibaki was forced to retract the appointments. For this part in the matter Kenneth Marende was never forgiven by the PNU side and he would have no chance of retaining his seat in 2013."
The book is now retailing at Kshs 3000/- only. Get yourself a copy.
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