Public debate is the lifeblood of democracy. But when criticism descends into personal vendetta, it ceases to illuminate and instead reveals more about the critic than the subject of the critique. That is precisely the unfortunate impression left by the latest broadside from Peter Owino Ranginya against Cabinet Secretary James Opiyo Wandayi.
Few would deny that Ranginya is a man of considerable intellect, exposure and long engagement with Kenya’s political discourse. For years he was regarded as a thinker whose opinions occasionally found their way to the ears of the political establishment, including Raila Amollo Odinga himself. Yet intellect alone is not the sole measure of wisdom. The missing ingredient in Ranginya’s recent commentary is the most basic human faculty required in political analysis: good judgement.
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