Raila deserves more than a game of two foreign football clubs

When a President announces that he will stop the nation at a designated hour for a special address, citizens naturally expect a major announcement. It may be a major policy announcement. It could be a security development, or an important intervention in the economy.

This is especially so when the message is coming from a faraway country. This week, President William Ruto stopped Kenya for an address from Moscow, scheduled for 6pm Kenyan time. Speculation was rife and inevitable. Was it something about Kenyans caught up in the Russia-Ukraine war? A Cabinet reshuffle? An important development in Kenya’s relations with Russia? Perhaps an extraordinary announcement on the economy?

It turned out to be about football, and the posthumous appropriation of Raila Odinga. Raila has always been a rich goldmine, to be exploited by seekers of political fortune. But has he reached a new high of political value in death? Is this the newest dimension of his enigmatic character?

The President announced that the Raila Odinga Talanta Hela Stadium would be officially inaugurated on January 5, 2027. A football match between German giants Bayern Munich and the Dutch club Ajax will be the climax. It is an ambitious spectacle, yes. But why did it require a special presidential address from Russia?

There is nothing bad about honouring Raila. He was a formidable political figure. He loved football. Above all, he will always remain an important part of Kenya’s national story. A stadium bearing his name is a fitting tribute. Yet,  can we escape the political symbolism, complete with the contradictions?

In life, Raila was a stumbling block to the political establishment. In death, his memory appears increasingly available for political appropriation. The stadium, the broad-based government arrangement, and now the international football spectacle invite questions about the relationship between commemoration and political expediency.

More fundamentally, why Bayern Munich and Ajax? Why must the inauguration of a Kenyan stadium be defined by European football? Why not Gor Mahia against AFC Leopards? Or Gor Mahia against Tanzania’s Simba SC? What about a continental invitational tournament, involving leading clubs from say Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa?

Better still, why not an annual Raila Odinga Cup, bringing together African football in the name of a man whose political imagination was distinctly Pan-African?

Bayern and Ajax may bring international glamour. But sporting development is not measured by the number of famous offshore clubs one can attract. It is measured by the institutions, opportunities and talent we build at home. We must distinguish between bringing the world to watch Kenya, and building Kenya’s capacity to compete with the world.

Then there is the money question. Who is paying for this spectacle? What are the respective contributions of government and corporate sponsors? What are the appearance fees, logistical costs and projected revenues? We are told of a self-sustaining commercial arrangement. Very well. But we cannot celebrate a self-sustaining commercial model without seeing the commercial arithmetic. But this must remain in the secret deals space that the UDA-Kenya Kwanza has defined as one of its trademarks.

A country struggling to honour collective bargaining agreements, to meet public obligations and to contain the rising cost of living deserves transparency, not simply spectacle. There is also the uncomfortable question of diplomatic priorities. Kenyans have been caught up in the Russia-Ukraine war. Families are waiting for  answers about missing or deceased relative. They deserve presidential attention.

A special address from Moscow offered the President an opportunity to show that he cares. Ruto missed the boat. A President must know when to celebrate and when to account. This was an accounting moment, and not a celebratory one.

Ultimately, however, the issue is not whether Kenya should celebrate football or honour Raila Odinga. It should do both. The issue is whether the government is confusing political theatre with national leadership. Raila Odinga deserves more than a European football exhibition. His legacy deserves an honest engagement with the democratic, social and political questions for which he struggled. And Kenya deserves a government that understands that national pride is not manufactured by spectacle. It is built through the daily business of governing.

So the President addressed Kenyans from Moscow with love, perhaps. But what, exactly, was the message? More of appropriation of Raila’s memory and legacy for the 2027 presidential election. The celebration comes in the adjacency of his birthday. The two will be tied together. Then there will be the elation of watching celebrated foreigners running after the ball. This should bag some votes. “Waka-Waka eh, eh! This is time for Africa!” as we said in 2010!

-Dr Muluka is a strategic communications adviser.