Tangatanga Luhya Politicians in dilemma – Weekly Citizen

Recent sentiments by a group of MPs from Kakamega county allied to William Ruto to the effect that the DP should not expect the Luhya community’s outright endorsement for his 2022 presidential ambitions appear to have jolted the DP and his cheerleaders.
In a surprise move that now typifies Ruto’s bulging bottlenecks on his bumpy ride to 2022 slightly over two years away, the lawmakers who have been singing and dancing to pro-Ruto tunes from the rooftop now appear to have changed tune, a clear indication yet that it is no longer business as usual in Western.

Shinali

Perhaps, to signify Ruto’s slowing momentum in this vote rich but fractious region, MPs Bernard Shinali (Ikolomani), Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo) and Malulu Injendi (Malava) recently declared that the DP should be prepared to first dialogue with Luhya leaders on how the community will benefit from his presidency.
Saying they are preoccupied with ensuring the Luhya community had a place in the next government, the legislators – hitherto avid proponents of the DP’s 2022 succession plans – were categorical that Ruto, though a neighbour and a friend, will not get the community’s direct endorsement in the absence of a dialogue on how the community will benefit from his presidency.
Ruto has over the past one year made countless trips to Kakamega and the larger Western region marketing himself well ahead of 2022 commissioning or inspecting development projects.
The DP has used these forays to dole out millions of shillings in impromptu fundraisers.
Besides Wangwe, Shinali and Malulu, Ruto’s other key allies in Kakamega include Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and the former Kakamega senator Bonnie Khalwale. Former Sports CS Rashid Echesa was another key cog in Ruto’s engine until he recently bolted out to embrace ANC boss Musalia Mudavadi’s presidential ideas, a move blamed on Khalwale’s domineering tendencies.
The former ODM youth leader is now an proponent of a united Luhya community to be able to form the next government. He is now fronting for Mudavadi.

Echesa

Tellingly though, Echesa has since come out in the open to rally ANC, Ford Kenya and ODM troops in the in the area to cast their lot with Mudavadi, whom he says is “a leader for all; the strongest presidential candidate we have in Western. We must help him clinch the top seat by all means”.

Washiali

With the tide slowly changing within the Tangatanga brigade in Western, Ruto’s nemeses have steadily been gaining ground, perhaps egged on by the turmoil that has been building in Jubilee. During legend Joe Kadenge’s recent burial at Gisambai in Hamisi, Vihiga county, political leaders told Ruto to keep off the region.
Waxing togetherness, the politicians dismissed Ruto’s forays in the region, saying theirs was to secure a place in the next government, with Makadara MP George Aladwa imploring on Mudavadi, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula and Devolution cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa to unite.
In a veiled assault on Ruto and his henchmen in the region, Aladwa warned that Luhyas will not agree to be organised like chickens by an outsider, stating the DP should keep off Luhya politics and allow them organise themselves.
A cross section of top political leadership in the region contends that Ruto’s foot soldiers in Western are merely interested in his bottomless pockets. With Mudavadi quietly rebranding himself in readiness for 2022, Ruto has elected to literally pitch tent in Western, a situation pundits warn bears the potential of easily turning the region into a battleground.