Musalia Mudavadi’s Blessing and Drawback
By Isaac Otidi Amuke
You’ll catch a glimpse of them if you went to watch a game of rugby at the Kenya Rugby Union grounds on Ngong Road. They’re usually in their 50s or 60s, well built (some with a belly, the sloshing takes a toll) and maintaining a gentlemanly mien, always spotting a fedora. They keep to themselves and talk less, and when they speak, they only say the absolute necessary, always in good cheer. But when you inquire, you’ll be told oh that’s so and so, the rugby legend of the ‘70s, ‘80s or ‘90s. Musalia Mudavadi belongs to this category, only that he’s in politics. For the uninitiated, he’s a softie. But for those who know Phantom, he’s the truest representation of the brawler on the pitch and gentleman off the pitch. As the British say, rugby is a sport for hooligans played by gentlemen and football is a sport for gentlemen played by hooligans. It may be this gentleman-playing-a-hooligan’s-sport maxim that defines Mudavadi’s approach to politics. Since hanging his rugby boots in the mid ‘80s, Mudavadi has been singing one song; economy! Will he go low like the good rugby player he once was and tackle Kenya’s debt and other recurring economic aggravations? But wait, he first has to become President.
