Western leaders back Natembeya after Ichungwa's harsh outburst

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya. [File, Standard]

A section of leaders from Western Kenya have condemned last Friday’s scathing attack on Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa.

Ichungwa took offense after Natembeya requested President William Ruto to order an end to abductions during the burial of Mama Ann Nanyama Wetangula, mother of Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula and Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, in Kabuchai, Bungoma, Friday last week.

The issue of abductions has dominated national discourse for months following the Gen-Z nationwide demonstrations on June 25, 2024, after which youth began to mysteriously disappear. Others were abducted in broad daylight by balaclava-clad men riding in Subaru vehicles and carrying guns.

The abductors are believed to be police officers in civilian clothing, although Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has repeatedly denied police involvement in the abductions.

In his address to the mourners, Natembeya said, inter alia: “Our children are getting lost, and others are being killed; that is the true situation. You (Ruto) have even said you are going to end these abductions. Young people are insulting people on social media, including me, but that should change. But even if it does not change, it does not mean that people should be abducted or killed.”

Ichungwa took Natembeya’s plea to the president as a personal affront and pointedly told him to his face that, during his tenure as the Regional Commissioner of Rift Valley, he had abducted and killed many people.

Natembeya has already issued a rejoinder denying Ichungwa’s claim, stating that he will not be ‘cowed or stopped by hired street hoodlums.’ He said, “Condemning extrajudicial killings and abductions should not be construed as undermining the president.”

Political analyst Prof Gitile Naituli says some of the statements made during the burial, along with Ichungwa’s vitriolic outbursts, are clear indications that the country is losing its sense of humanity.

“Ichungwa displayed extreme callousness and came through as a very evil person. There were no kind words at all for the families whose children had been abducted and killed. Other than Governor Natembeya, no one else expressed sympathy or expressed the need to end what is clearly a blot on our national psyche. Are we electing human animals without being conscious?” poses Naituli.

Ichungwa claimed in his speech that the youth were abducting themselves, a view shared by the Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli, who also claimed the youth abduct themselves to get donor funding. 

On other occasions, Ichungwa has claimed that Gachagua is the brains behind the abductions in an attempt to make Ruto’s government look bad. Claims of self-abduction disrespect the reality that a number of the youths who were abducted were later found dead. According to KNHRC, 29 are still missing, with their families in agony, seeking answers and closure.

“Without the ability to feel the pain of others, we are no longer human. We are not alive. We have no soul. Mark Twain, the American author, once wrote that kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see. And what he meant is that kindness is a universal language. It’s what connects us.”

“What transpired was unfortunate, and I have not seen such type of intolerance for quite a long time,” Kakamega Senator Dr Boni Khalwale says. He also read mischief in how the programme was run. “There was an attempt to steer the programme to make preferred people visible considering we have elections coming up soon.” He laments that Senators were barred from speaking during the burial.

 “I wasn’t allowed to speak even though I am the Majority Chief Whip in the Senate, the longest serving parliamentarian and a very senior leader from the region. I am senior than Ichungwa and the least they could do was give me the honour of being Master of Ceremony,” says Khalwale.

“Ruto is rebooting his politics to secure re-election in 2027 and doesn’t need people like Ichungwa if he is to succeed. He needs a little bit more imagination to midwife his journey to re-election,” Khalwale says. He urges Ruto to woo western by making its presence in the broad-based government felt the way it is for Central and Nyanza with Uhuru and Raila having representatives in the cabinet. Former Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu says the burial was more of a “Kenya Kwanza” rally that was carefully planned to humiliate Natembeya. 

“They took a whole month to plan the attack. You saw groups of people in Ford-K caps who had been ferried from different parts of Trans Nzoia. They were there to heckle Natembeya and applaud those who attacked him and spewed nonsense,” Eseli says.

There is no love lost between Wetangula and Natembeya who beat the Ford-K gubernatorial candidate by a big margin in 2022 against expectation. Wetangula’s Ford-K is the dominant political party in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties. In March last year, violence erupted at the burial of the wife of former MCA Phillip Nyongesa in the Goseta area of Kwanza Sub County in Trans Nzoia when supporters of Natembeya and Wetangula, both in attendance, clashed.

Leader of Maendeleo Democratic Party Alfred Mangula says Ichungwa was disrespectful to Natembeya. “It is not a good thing for individuals to come here and insult our leaders in their own backyard. Other leaders take us for granted when they come here to lecture us, that is unfortunate,” he says.

Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader Eugene Wamalwa, who has lately teamed up with Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, to keep the government on its toes expressed disgust at the ‘outrageous attacks’ made by Ichungwa on Governor Natembeya.

“The arrogance and insolence we saw in Bungoma recently will soon come to an end. UDA will soon learn to address matters of grave national concern such as the ongoing abductions with the sensitivity and respect they deserve”. 

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah Okoiti and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna used their X handles to condemn the attack on Natembeya. “This culture of abductions must end now. It violates the principles of justice, human dignity and the rule of law,” Omtatah said.