Wetang’ula: Mudavadi above State jobs

From left: Former Nairobi Mayor George Aladwa, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula and Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa at the Kawangware Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church, yesterday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

By NGARI GICHUKI and MAUREEN ABWAO

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula has called on UDF leader Musalia Mudavadi to shun “petty” appointments by the Jubilee government that might come his way.

Speaking during a church service at the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church Kawangware in Nairobi, Wetang’ula said Mudavadi is above Government appointments as he had already served in key State posts and should now focus on running for the top seat.

“I want to give my brother Musalia some free advice. He should not beg for Government jobs but rather join the leadership of Luhya land so as to bring forth a president who will lead our people and Kenya,” he said.

But Mudavadi’s spokesman Kibisu Kabatesi has dismissed the senator’s remarks as not genuine.

“Wetang’ula, if he is genuine, should have recognised some of these attributes in Mudavadi and supported him in last year’s poll,” said Kabatesi. “It’s hypocritical to make such statements unless he will be supporting Mudavadi in 2017.”

Wetang’ula called on the Luhya community to unite and rally behind one person in the 2017 election since their division was causing them to miss out on key leadership positions.

“Research has shown that the Luhya community is the largest ethnic group in the country with 6.2 million people but during elections we are nowhere to be seen because of this cancer of division ailing us. I believe that if we unite, we shall bring forth a president as Kenya does not only consist of two communities,” he said.

Accompanied by MPs and leaders from Western, Wetang’ula made known his ambitions to vie for the top seat in the next General Election saying CORD was not going to break despite the current election wrangles.

Bad to worse

Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa asked the Luhya community to vote as a bloc come in 2017.

Wamalwa also took issue with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s remark, last year, that he and his deputy, would rule for the next 20 years, arguing that the power of choosing a president lies with the people.

“I don’t see how you can work with someone who called you a devil at one time,” Wetang’ula told Mudavadi.

Jared Kopiyo, MP for Awendo, said since Jubilee came into power, the lives of many Kenyans had gone from bad to worse.