OPINION: MULEMBE NATION: LET’S STOP UNJUSTLY BLAMING MUSALIA MUDAVADI
Mulembe voters have become their own enemies preferring to support outsiders rather than their own blood.
By Wakhungu Andaje
As the Western region is geared towards receiving the Linda Mwananchi brigade led by the new kid on the block Edwin Sifuna, it is time Mulembe nation faced the hard truth that Musalia Mudavadi was still the man to beat.
Despite the residents judging Musalia Mudavadi unfairly, and history shows clearly that the Luhya’s have never truly stood behind and fully supported his political endeavors.
Politics being a game of interest, numbers, and support and just like farming where one is bound to harvest what he planted, the Mulembe voters have become their own enemies preferring to support outsiders rather than their own blood.
For Musalia he is a brand that he built himself to stand the sands of times making his first entrance into the political limelight in 1989 after the death of his father, Moses Mudavadi.
At the age of 26 years he won the Sabatia MP seat, and worked tirelessly, retained it, and rose through ranks to become a powerful Minister under the late President Daniel Arap Moi where he captured the trust and ear of the President serving as a minister in several dockets within government.
His rise to his current position as the Prime cabinet secretary for foreign and Diaspora affairs has not been a favour rather his contribution to the win for Dr.William Ruto as the country’s 5th President where he fought for it, learned the ropes, and earned respect nationally.
His political ambition has seen him becoming the He became Kenya’s 7th Vice President in 2002, the first Luhya ever to hold that high office.
And when he showed interest to lead the nation after Moi, we as a community failed to offer him full, unified backing dismissing him as too diplomatic for the Kenya’s political arena, scattered our support, looked elsewhere, and hence missed the golden chance to solidify our place at the high table.
His move to join the late Raila Odinga in 2007 where he stood firm and remained vibrant and key player in the NASA coalition was approved by other tribes including the Luo’s but largely dismissed by the Ingo voters where despite proving that he knows how to build alliances and fight for shared goals, the community’s loyalty remained divided.
In 2013, he formed the united democratic front (UDF) party under the Amani coalition where he ran for President garnering a total of 483,981 votes (3.93%) with Kakamega embracing Raila Odinga by awarding him 64%, against Mudavadi only 30%.
In his home turf Vihiga, he barely won by 49% against Raila Odinga who garnered 46% while in Bungoma he managed to clinch 31% as Raila took 53% with the major blow coming from Busia where Raila clocked 86% against his paltry 8%.
The magnitude of his loss was so intense that his party failed to offer him any parliamentary shield with Western Kenya giving him almost no MPs, Senators or Governors to back his coalition with most seats went being won by ODM.
In 2022, he joined ranks with Kenya Kwanza through his Amani national congress (ANC) party realigning his ANC party to William Ruto’s (Kenya Kwanza), with hopes of bringing the region to the negotiating table but surprisingly the reception in much of Luhyaland was cold with many remaining staunch supporters of Azimio.
To even suppress his efforts further the Mulembe voters in his Vihiga backyard gave Raila Odinga 143,000 votes against Ruto’s 79,000 hence swaying his bargaining power as only a few MPs, Senators or Governors under his Kenya Kwanza/ANC banner were elected as ODM dominated the Western region again.
And yet again his region voters deserted him in his times of need but his resilience and ability to stand out as a nationalist accepted across the country and even beyond, delivered to the region a powerful voice in government as Prime Cabinet Secretary (PCS).
So as Edwin Sifuna entrance into the Presidential race in 2027 with claims that Musalia is not interested in becoming the next President it is worth noting that Musalia has been in the race in (2013) but received very minimal backing from his homeland.
And as chants and calls to Musalia to pave way for Edwin Sifuna renders the air, it is on record to note that while Musalia Mudavadi was campaigning to become President, the likes of Edwin Sifuna, Moses Wetangula, Wycliffe Oparanya, Ababu Namwamba , and Kenneth Marende, were very busy working to deliver the Western Kenya voting bloc to the late Raila Odinga under the CORD/ODM coalition.
At the same time, leaders in the independent and alternative camps, such late Cyrus Jirongo, chose to align with Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Alliance party further isolating Mudavadi within his own region.
Because of this intense fragmentation among Western Kenya's political elite, Mudavadi finished 3rd nationally in the 2013 Presidential election.
He secured a majority only in Vihiga County while losing the other Luhya-majority counties Kakamega, Bungoma, and Busia to his competitors.
Let it be within the public domain that before Edwin Sifuna and Caleb Amisi speaks about Mudavadi's alleged political stagnation, they should also come clean about whether they and their political allies backed Mudavadi when he sought the presidency or not.
In reality, only a handful of leaders openly stood with Musalia Mudavadi, including: Ayub Savula, Benjamin Washiali, Yusuf Chanzu the then MP for Vihiga Constituency.
Alfred Agoi – then MP for Sabatia, Mudavadi's home constituency and Beatrice Adagala a key regional mobilizer who supported his presidential bid.
Whatever the regional political differences, one lesson remains clear: divisions has repeatedly weakened the Luhya community's bargaining power and if the region is to maximize its political influence, unity will matter more than ever and it is in open domain that Musalia Mudavadi still remains the regions powerhouse and presidential contender for that matter as even President William Ruto has shown interest in supporting his 2032 bid.
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