Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa has every reason to bash and shout at opposition leader Raila Odinga, as was the case in Vihiga County on Saturday.
The youthful leader went on a rant, accusing the former Premier of not only planning and scheming his downfall but inciting Luhya leaders against him as well.
Coming from an openly failed state officer, it’s completely understandable, especially from a man under whose very nose our athletes ended up stranded in Lagos, Nigeria, on their way to Asaba for the African Senior Athletics Championship.
Being an international shame, Echesa seems to have predicted his sack, and not wanting to single-handedly carry the blame, he is trying to heap a portion of it on Odinga.
Also, being a close associate of Deputy President William Ruto who is eyeing the Luhya vote in his pending 2022 presidential bid, Echesa is most likely being used to portray Raila in a bad light in the region.
Raila has always enjoyed the bigger portion of the Luhya vote in his many presidential bids and is likely to repeat the same should he vie in 2022, forcing Ruto to device a way to make him look as an anti-Luhya crusader.
This way, Ruto who is most likely the one who convinced President Uhuru Kenyatta into nominating Echesa into the cabinet will look more friendly, while Raila ends up as the loser of both the votes and trust of the Luhya people.
Finally, Echesa could be eyeing an elective post in the future and, therefore, needs some popularity to achieve the same. Raila being one of the most popular leaders in both the region and the entire nation, mentioning him here and there will be beneficial.
He is also aware that Raila, despite being influential, enjoys no state power and the worst he can do to him is unleash his (Raila) allies to encounter him, as opposed to if he were in government where he would have found a reason to detain or harass him.
Should he be sacked, the CS will have managed to drag Raila into his mess, also landing him the sympathy vote should he vie in the future.