The stability of the kinetic Alfven wave (KAW) has been studied in a plasma composed of electrons, hydrogen and positively and negatively charged oxygen ions. Using the two potential theory of Hasegawa, we have derived an expression for the frequency and growth/damping rate of the KAW. The dispersion relation derived in this paper is a generalization of the dispersion relation of Hasegawa on two counts: (i) we use a more generalized distribution function and show that our relation reduces to the dispersion relation of Hasegawa in the limiting case, and (ii) it is applicable to a multi-ion plasma containing lighter ions and positively and negatively charged heavier ions. We find the growth rate of the wave increases with increasing drift velocities of the electrons. Negatively charged oxygen ions (O-) decrease the growth rate; however, the growth rate is very sensitively dependent on O- ion density, especially when its density is greater than that of the positively charged oxygen ions (O+). Interestingly, the dispersion characteristics of KAWs can be made insensitive to the presence of the heavier ions by an appropriate choice of their densities and temperatures.