When Raila Odinga paid a visit to the Stock Exchange yesterday he met not only with bitter investors but with fearless bourse directors who told him he stood accused for the meltdown in the NSE.

It is a long time since Raila took the podium in Canada last year, and told a shocked audience that the bull run on the stock market was due to its use as a destination for the proceeds on drug trafficking and trade and not because of a shift in economic fundamentals. But in that time, a succession of similar sentiments has led many investors to be particularly attentive to his utterances, and to conclude from them that a Raila presidency would not be a good thing for the stock markets. The ODM leader is a controversial man, one who has often got two divergent opinions on most matters but even he would be hard put to explain how else Kenyans should have translated his opinions.

NSE Chairman Mbaru, long ago warned ODM against causing instability in the markets

That the ODM leader was speaking to an educated and discerning audience lends us to believe that he must have meant what he said. It was hardly a slip of the tongue, and the facts prove that he could not have been more wrong. The NSE was not growing in isolation. Across the board, large corporate entities were reporting solid earnings; some of them even record profits. Forward financial performance numbers for this year were looking brighter than ever; and for those investors who elected to ignore Mr. Odinga's careless allegations, there have been great returns on their funds. It will be up to the individual voter to decide whetheror not the Langata MP's attitude is one of extreme negligence but it does not bode well for his role as a guardian of the well-being of the people of Kenya, and their economy that he should at all be perceived as a threat to the growth and increased prominence of the financial markets. In addition, given that it is clear the market needs urgent reform, any future head of state will have to be able to negotiate such reforms without setting off a panic, or dampening the confidence of investors in the bourse. This necessarily behoves his working at creating a good working relationship with the financial community, instead of anatagonising it.

It may be a belated realization of his stature and the duties that come with it, that drew the ODM head to the stock market yesterday. But in the end it was merely a cosmetic visit as he failed completely to answer the questions put to him, and even worse seemed unaware of the workings of the markets.

In reply to questions on what his political ideology is, the ODM boss spoke about the need for a fairer distribution of resources, and an increased supervision in the bourse to protect investors. These are indeed all laudable goals, but one cannot then understand why Raila has failed to use his prestige in parliament to craft a law that would achieve these goals. One does not need to be in government to bring about change, and Kenyans of all stripes who are increasingly investing in the stock market would no doubt have been grateful for increased protection of their savings. Kenyans for example can remember Joe Donde's interest rates bill and those of Oloo Aringo among others as a sign that even back-benchers with no clout can make their parliamentary careers count for something.

Strengthening the Capital Markets Authority would indeed be attractive to institutional investors and even to foreign investors looking for secure returns in a rapidly growing economy. For the failure to achieve this, we must not just blame Odinga, but also the entire government and the members of parliament.

The problem however is that in choosing to go about things the way he has, Raila is causing a lot of worry. Let us assume that he is sincere in his desire to have a better regulated bourse. Does the fact that he is only prepared to attempt this when in State House mean that he will force these reforms through? Does he not see that the prospect of such reforms without the participation of stakeholders is unnerving? Does he also not realise that given his other statements on the economy, for example on focusing on Gross National Happiness instead of Gross Domestic Product are likely to concern investors? Does the ODM MP have any advisers, and have they put across to him that it is vital that the markets do not see uncertainty in the future?

We certainly do not know what Gross National Happiness and other such formulations are, and in the stock market the uncertain leads to people pulling their money out. That much is the reality, the markets are all about perceptions and managing risk.

What makes the ODM leader's sentiments doubly worrying is the fact that they are not his alone. Some of the loose talk peddled by his counterparts like William Ruto for example portrays the kind of street talk that would be more efficacious in village political barazas, where no eye will be batted at such populist talk. Talk of the manipulation of the stock market and the mis-pricing of securities coming in the same week as the Treasury attempts an infrastructure bond listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is incredibly irresponsible, and shows just how ignorant of the world of international finance the ODM party are. If investors see the incoming party as likely to radically change the constitution of the country's economy, the chances of the bonds success will be very slim indeed.

That the ODM get its act together is especially urgent as it is not just the equity markets that have been affected by the prospects of an ODM victory at the General Election. The Central Bank has had to up the yield for a 10 year bond to 10.2% as investors price the risk of ODM's victory into the bond market. The markets it seems are united in their appraisal of the ODM team's management prowess as essentially low, but even worse unpredictable and haphazard.

It is true that the markets are not always right and perceptions sometimes run parallel to reality. In which case we must ask that the ODM team do all they can to assuage investors, publish a plan for the next five years and specific proposals for what an ODM government would change in the system. It is not that investors and the markets do not want change. What they abhor is surprises and a portrayal of ineptitude.

ODM can achieve this without losing anything in their electoral battle with the government, and what's more if they win the election, that calm will be to their advantage. When S&P's Ratings Services for example assigned Kenya a sovereign B+' long-term foreign currency and 'BB-' long-term local currency credit ratings, it was pointed out that this assessment was supported by continued progress in economic reform and enhanced macroeconomic and political stability. It was however pointed out that governance and political issues might affect Kenya's future credit scores. It is these credit scores that are used by investors to gauge the prices of money to be lent in the form of bonds. With a diminished rating, the capital raising strategies of the Treasury will fall apart, and if ODM are then in government, it will be them ruing their brash and irresponsible approach. These are now the big leagues, and if ever there was a need to put on their statesmen suits, this time is it.