MPs rile at Khalwale bid to sell Ruto party in Western
Dennis Lumiti
The move by former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale to join the newly formed United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has sparked off a political storm in Western region.
Local leaders have accused him of being a hireling of Deputy President William Ruto with the sole mission of dividing the Luhya community.
Khalwale recently declared he had joined UDA; an outfit associated with Ruto and assumed the position of deputy party leader.
Previously, Khalwale had been perceived the automatic Jubilee Party candidate for the Kakamega gubernatorial seat in the 2022 General Election.
Yesterday, a section of local political leaders hit out at Khalwale, accusing him of being used by Ruto to divide the Mulembe nation.
“This is not the first time Khalwale is being used by outsiders to divide the Luhya community for his selfish political desires,” said Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito.
Ford Kenya
He added: “Remember in 2004, he was among the leaders who joined Cyrus Jirongo’s the Kenya African Democratic Development Union (Kaddu) with the promise to support his political ambitions. Soon after, he dumped Jirongo and formed an outfit called New Ford-Kenya with the main aim of destroying Ford-Kenya that was then headed by Musikari Kombo.”
Kizito said Khalwale later dumped New Ford-K and joined the United Democratic Forum led by Musalia Mudavadi, which successfully sponsored his senatorial bid in 2013 only for him to join forces with people that wanted to destroy the party.
Alex Khamasi, an ANC official, said the former senator has never been a team player. “He is always fighting fellow Luhya leaders and everybody else. This is one of his latest plots,” he said.
But in a tough rejoinder, Khalwale maintained his decision to join UDF has nothing to do with dividing the community.
“It is an open secret that I am a strong member of the Hustler movement. I want to say here. There is no contradiction whatsoever, when it comes to national issues I work closely with the Deputy President.
“When it comes to issues affecting the community, I work with Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya,” he noted.
He further claimed he had previously taken Wetang’ula and Oparanya to meet the Deputy President over a possible political alliance come 2022.
“In the case of Oparanya, we were in Kisumu when I called DP Ruto over the issue. We then took a flight to Nairobi and met the Deputy President and his national team of 27 leaders drawn from across the country.
That was the week before Elgeyo-Marakwet Kipchumba Murkomen and Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika were kicked out of their positions in the Senate.”
“In the case of Wetang’ula, we had a meeting with the DP in his office. Wetang’ula was accompanied by his party Secretary General (Eseli Simiyu), Wafula Wamunyinyi, Chris Wamalwa and Catherine Wambilianga. It is only Mudavadi who has not met the DP,” Khalwale added.
The meetings, he said, were geared towards forging a united front with the DP heading to the 2022 polls.
But Kizito and Lurambi MP Titus Khamala maintained Khalwale was out to auction the community to the highest bidder.
Enough outfits
“Remember the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi is ending his tour of duty in Geneva and has expressed interest in running for the presidency in 2022.
Perhaps the party has been formed in the hope that Dr Kituyi could join,” said Lurambi Member of Parliament Bishop Khamala Bishop Khamala.
Khamala said the Luhya community already have enough political outfits, which should even be merged instead of the establishing more.
“This is a wider scheme and we are very observant. We have similar plots elsewhere. Remember some leaders at the Coast are also agitating for the formation of their own party,” he added.
