Opposition leader Raila Odinga. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
The clock was ticking furiously towards December 12, a day that would bear witness to two major events; the Jamhuri Day celebrations and the swearing-in of NASA leader Raila Odinga.The prospect of a bloody showdown between the police and opposition supporters hung over the heads of Kenyans like a dark cloud.As December 12 closed in so did the tensions in the country rise with both sides of the political spectrum exchanging strong words on the issue of swearing in of Raila Odinga as President and Kalonzo Musyoka as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya respectively.That will not happen; NASA has decided to postpone the swearing in until a later date to be communicated in the coming days.
This is after a vicious debate on whether going ahead with the inauguration of Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka as President and Deputy President on the scheduled date would be a prudent course of action.There are many reasons that could have informed the postponement of the inauguration.From a strategic point of view, it would have been foolish to go on with the ceremony given that Jubilee already had critical details about the inauguration and was lining its bloggers to make fun of it.Postponing it was the best option as it would deny Jubilee the satisfaction that it had sought to derive.A tactical retreat from the swearing would keep the government busy trying to figure out what NASA is up to.Given the pressure that the international community and other stakeholders had put on Raila to give dialogue a chance, insisting on going on with the December 12 ceremony would have created the perception that the opposition was not interested in dialogue.It was better to postpone it to create room for dialogue as had been requested.