By Dikembe Disembe
CORD LEADER Raila Odinga is expected in the country this evening after weeks of international engagements which took him to Yale University in the US, the Republic of Mozambique and South Africa.
At Yale, Odinga delivered a lecture centered on growth, challenges and opportunities in Africa since 2000 and beyond. The lecture, titled “Afro-Optimism: Has the Pendulum Swung too far?”, discussed a period of time that stretched a decade from the dawn of this century to now and beyond.
However, most of its anecdotes were observations of nearly half a century of Africa’s independence.
Odinga powerfully reminded the world that even as Africa rises, across the continent, challenges remain unresolved, some which date back to pre-independence and the first decade of independence in most African countries – the 60s and 70s. Odinga’s lecture could not have come at a better time, delivered by the horse himself, who continue to bridge the gap between afro-optimism and contemporary realities of life in the African continent.
Fiercely, he warned of ‘misleading’ statistics of economic progress, noting that the gap between the poor and the rich continue to widen each passing day in the continent, with the poor getting poorer while the rich getting richer.
To an Economics Class at the institution, alongside H.E. Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, Odinga also delved on a discussion titled Building Democratic Institutions for Inclusive Economic and Social Transformation.
In Mozambique, Odinga was the lead electoral observer for the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa ( EISA) for the October 15 elections, which ended peacefully though a section of the opposition has disputed the results.
As Odinga returns, he will revitalize the referendum campaigns for Okoa Kenya which is on a slow pace as the body continue to collect referendum signatures as well as verification.