Veteran journalist and columnist Macharia Gaitho has described Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga as one who "suffers a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease.
"Twice in just the past week, the National Super Alliance presidential candidate has had to deny or clarify statements that were interpreted as dangerous incitement on the tinderbox issues of land, inequality and ethnic relations," writes Gaitho in this week's column.
Gaitho cites two occasions when Raila made the 'dangerous incitements; what he said in the Times of London interview on white-owned ranches in Laikipia County, and at a campaign rally in Kajiado County, where he addressed issues of land ownership and settlement.
He notes that the fact that Raila had to explain himself stands as proof that he knows that what he said has caused him problems.
The columnist now warns that Raila's few reckless utterances may undo the good things that Nasa strategists have worked so hard to come up with.
"Mr Odinga’s penchant for crowd-pleasing antics and the tendency to latch onto any populist cause or local grievance may make for good political theatre but would bode ill for a person who needs to demonstrate sober, dignified and responsible leadership.
"A serious presidential candidate with millions of followers should be more circumspect in his choice of words.This is especially so in the regions of fragile peace blighted by recent or past ethnic-political violence, where just a few thoughtless statements can incite conflagration," adds Gaitho.
He goes further and argues that sometimes it seems, Odinga is doing his best to "justify the virulent Jubilee propaganda that works overtime to paint him as a dangerous demagogue."