As giants duel, the loser will be thrown into oblivion

By JUMA KWAYERA

jkwayera@standardmedia.co.ke

BUNGOMA, KENYA: The winner of Bungoma senatorial by-election will be known next Thursday. However, a sure outcome of the gruelling one-month campaign is that the election has exposed the underbellies of frontrunners Moses Wetang’ula and Musikari Kombo. Supporters of the two say the outcome will bring the curtains down on the career of the loser.

To debutant independent candidate David Makali, the result will gauge his mettle and standing among the electorate as he launches his career in politics. Mr Makali’s late plunge into the fray gives him the tag of rank outsider, but his presence has been felt going by the crowds he has been turning up at his rallies.

Then there is the third aspect of the election: the tag of the election as a pilot campaign to consolidate the region as bloc after a series of missteps since independence.

‘Project’ perceptions have been driven with each of the four candidates having to fight off allegations that some people inside and outside the government are supporting them, hence the potential risk of losing the seat because of perceived external interference.

Unlike the Makueni by-election where parties and their coalition partners laid swoop on the county, Bungoma is generally being avoided by major players as Wetang’ula, New Ford Kenya’s Kombo, Makali and Labour Party’s Bifwoli Wakoli fight to keep clear of the puppet tag.

After initially making forays into Bungoma, CORD leader Raila Odinga has generally kept off the region after Kombo labeled Wetang’ula a candidate being introduced to his constituents by “outsiders”.

In the countdown to the December 19 D Day, ODM leadership was reportedly abandoning CORD in protest of being sidelined in the campaign.

However, Wetang’ula is buoyed by the presence of Kakamega County senator Boni Khalwale on his campaign trail. Dr Khalwale has repeatedly told the electorate that Kombo is a puppet of Jubilee government. Jubilee, the ruling party, lacks a foothold in the region.

Dr Khalwale captures the mood of the titanic battle expected in Bungoma when he says that whoever is seen to be preferred by ‘outsiders’ risks losing the poll.

Cosmopolitan county

“The impact of the quiet revolution that has been taking place in Western region will be seen in Bungoma. Kombo and Wetang’ula can lose and a neutral person wins the by-election if the two are perceived to be either Jubilee or Cord projects. The electorate wants to be left alone to choose their leaders,” he told The Standard on Saturday.

Immediately after Wetang’ula’s election was nullified, the former senator received massive sympathy support from the electorate, who accused Jubilee of using the Judiciary to install sycophants in predominantly opposition CORD region. The sympathy votes have since receded as perceptions and dynamics shift in tandem.

Wetang’ula finds himself now at par with Kombo and opinion leaders say this development at the tail-end of the campaign can tilt the balance significantly.

Bishop Martin Waliaula of ODM says the dynamics change by the day. “In addition, new realignments along clan and political lines are defining the voting trends,” he says.

“Bungoma County is cosmopolitan, with the Sabaot and Teso communities making a significant fraction of the county’s demography. Wetang’ula has cut the image of an ethnic king while Kombo projects himself as a regionalist,” says Bishop Waliaula, the party’s regional strategist.

He says the consequence of this strategy may have endeared Kombo to non-Bukusu voters who perceive Wetang’ula as hostile to non-indigenous voters.

He predicts that the Tachoni clan will support Kombo because of influential Webuye East Alfred Sambu and Webuye East’s Dan Wanyama, while the Baengele clan of Bukusu sub-tribe from which popular former vice-president Michael Wamalwa – former Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa’s elder brother – will rally behind Eugene’s choice.

The clergyman adds that Wetang’ula is expected to be on the receiving end because of the manner he “mistreated” election candidates from Cord affiliates in the last general election. The immediate former county senator faces allegations of stoking insecurity that ravaged Bungoma soon after the polls.

In response, Wetang’ula’s campaign manager Fred Wesonga accuses Kombo of playing isolationist politics that has seen him alienate other communities in the county especially the Kikuyu, Luo, Sabaot and Teso.

“Kombo does not get along with the Luos, Kikuyu and other non-Bukusu communities in the county. He has only one man fronting for him, Musalia Mudavadi, whom we know is a Jubilee government project. Wetang’ula on the other side is a gentleman and diplomat with the capacity to marshal support of all the communities in the county,” says Mr Wesonga.

He says the Ford Kenya leader has the support of ODM pointman in Bungoma, Alfred Khang’ati.

After the court annulled his election, it ordered that Wetang’ula be investigated for criminal offences, particularly, alleged voter bribery. The outcome of the closely contested by-election will in part be determined by support for Makali and Wakoli. Although Makali is independent, there is talk that he has the support of ODM party that is wary of Wetang’ula future in politics.

Poor team leader

The two are expected to gnaw at Wetang’ula support-base especially in ODM dominated areas. Kombo on the other end and has received the backing of Webuye East and West MPs Alfred Sambu and Dan Wanyama, respectively. Mr John Serut, the Mt Elgon MP, is rallying the Sabaot community behind Kombo just as County Women Representative Reginalda Nakhumicha Wanyonyi, who is rooting for the former Webuye MP. These leaders, including Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, accuse Wetang’ula of harassment and insubordination.

When he spoke to The Standard on Saturday, Sambu was categorical: the ouster of Wetang’ula from Bungoma politics is his ultimate mission on December 19.

“When Luhyia leaders agreed to support Musalia Mudavadi in the last presidential election, it was him who reneged on the collective agreement. He has frustrated everybody for selfish ends and it time he was sent to the dustbin,” Mr Sambu explains his stand.

He adds, “He is an opportunist and dictatorial, which makes him poor team player in our push for a national platform.”