They broke the mould when they made Raila

I did not know what conversation to bring up as I had grown up revering him as an elder statesman whose schedule could not accommodate people of negligible political pedigree like I was.

At first I did not believe he had called for me in person – partly because I did not feel worthy of his recognition by virtue of his high profile social and political network, and partly because I was too far back in the pecking order of those who merit spending time in his presence.

At the time the call was made, I was not in my best fashion sense as I had a field work activity that morning for one of the technical consultancies I had been engaged in for a development partner.

I pleaded with the caller to grant me another one hour tops, to dash back home and sanitize myself to meet the entry criteria – for I believe in the counting of first impressions.

They answered that they could not make the promise, and that was good enough to set me off for a change of clothes.

Nairobi’s traffic snarl-ups is well documented and is one for the books; nine-in-ten employees who make it late for work provide it as their number one excuse, while the remaining one attribute their lateness to an excuse still related to bad roads, chaotic motoring or senseless road usage.

On this day the call came, my sinking worry was whether the traffic gods would conspire to deny me my maiden audience with the enigma of Kenyan politics. I needed not to cross my fingers for the roads were unusually clear that morning and the heat gentler to the skin to guarantee comfort in official wear.

There is something about Raila Odinga – when he walks into a room – that is difficult to describe. He’s larger than life and might feel menacing to a first timer coming into close proximity, but when you come into eye contact with him you feel a spiritual sense of fatherly assurance that you can only get from someone you feel safe being around.

That’s the day I came to understand why he’s affectionately referred to as Baba.

I think Raila Odinga is blessed with an instinctive sense of occasion that can only be found in a thoroughbred African elder.

On that day of our maiden meeting, he had noticed my struggle with picking a honorific title to address him, and in order to level me up and spread warmth around the room, he went straight away to narrating to us the passionate story of Sir Edward Carey Francis and his Maseno School student, Prof David Simon Peter Wasawo; “far and away, the most brilliant student I have ever taught.”

He must have been briefed about my passion for the school and had made it his mission to use it as a point of entry towards breaking the ice.

The labour of making me comfortable in the room did not need to come from Baba, considering I was in his office, was not his peer and was under no obligation to be fatherly to a young man with whom he had no relations.

However, I later came to discover that that was the Raila Odinga that everybody had grown to know – a selfless statesman, who believes in the goodness of everyone, and who loves his country and seeks to mentor those with potential for growth.

That day, I later came to discover from Baba’s staffers, that he had declined to rush to an urgent meeting in wait of me.

Raila Odinga told me many things I did not know he was aware of, that day – our discussion centering around the content of my social media footprint that was heavy on the advancement of the ideologies of social justice, youth inclusion and minority rights advocacy.

Throughout the session, I was mesmerised by his sharp recollection of historical events, personalities involved in them, and their connections to the fierce urgency of now.

One thing I came to discover from that meeting was that, contrary to popular belief, Raila Odinga is a keen listener to fresh progressive ideas, accommodative of divergent opinion, and does not rush to make conclusions on professional advisory accorded to him before he conducts his own evidence-based research for triangulation purposes.

He, also, has this rare ability to see through half-truths disguised as honest opinion, and can switch off his game face whenever he feels suffocated by retrogressive air around him.

That is the kind of person, in my opinion, that the African Union Commission needs as their next Chairperson – a venerable African elder in whom young people would feel safe nestling under his shade whenever they’re faced by the challenges of demographic dividend, a revered African statesman with a history of putting country before self whenever he has been called upon to assist with nation-building, and a staunch Pan-Africanist who has cultivated regional and global political networks for the harnessing of political goodwill and regional unity; and who has never shied away from tapping into those associations for the greater good of the continent in which he’s proud to call his home.

There are certain groups of people who have grown up to see the one side of Raila Odinga based on the bias of their social upbringing and the prejudice of their cultural history.

It’s difficult to blame them, as they are innocent of their socialisation and could never have known better unless exposed to the real unfiltered history of post-colonial Kenya that is beneficial to the inter-ethnic fabric of our nation.

Since then, the Raila Odinga I’ve come to know, first-hand, is a selfless man with a forgiving heart and a fatherly love driven by a heavy sense of national duty committed to service for all.

You can count on your one hand the African leaders who have lived to see their 80th birthday and still held a special status in the hearts of their people and in the lineup of their peers. Statesmen like Raila Odinga comes once in a generation and are difficult to match-up to when they’re gone, which is why Africa will be honoured to experience his dedication to civic duty, devotion to public service, and passion for a cohesive Pan Africa.

They broke the mould when they made this man. The African Union Commission will be richer with him as their Chair.