By Allan Kisia
He stops at a lush, green part of his expansive farm and points his bakora (walking stick) to a thick bush of banana plantains.
He uses the bakora to poke at a budding bunch of Kiganda bananas as he avidly explains what a farmer needs to do for maximum yields.
This is former powerful Kanu official and Cabinet Minister Burudi Nabwera who is now a farmer and village elder.
If it was 20 years ago, in 1988, when he was Kanu Secretary-General, he could have used the bakora to point at party delegates as he lectured them on discipline.
But now, Nabwera, 81, is a far cry from his political peak in the late 1980s. Now, he tends to his farm in Trans Nzoia District where he also keeps pedigree dairy herd.
Nabwera at his banana farm in Kitale |
When not at his farm, he attends Luhya Council of Elders meetings rather than engage in active politics.
Solo political party
Watching him tour his farm, one can hardly associate Nabwera with the Kanu days when the party was the solo political machine in the land.
He now says: "I just want to be a farmer and nothing more. I enjoy rearing farm animals and growing crops. This is better than politics."
He goes on: "Now, I don’t handle party disciplinary letters and other paper work, I plant maize, sunflower and bananas and keep cows for milk."
He served separate parliamentary terms in the Kenyatta and Moi governments as a minister.
He is a veteran politician and former ambassador.
The highlight of his professional career includes being a Permanent Representative to the UN and Ambassador to the US in the 1960s. He retired from diplomatic service to join politics.
As Kanu Secretary-General, he presided over the infamous Mlolongo (queue voting) system in 1988 at a time when the party was at its peak.
That year, Nabwera was elected Lugari MP. He lost the seat in the 1992 multi-party elections to Mr Apili Wawire. He then quit active politics.
In Moi’s Government, Nabwera was a minister in the Office of the President and Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
"After the 1992 elections, I decided I’d had enough of politics, chose to retire and concentrate on other things in life," he says.
Nabwera still considers former President Moi a great friend though he parted ways with him when he ditched Kanu and joined Ford-Kenya in 1992.
Nabwera says he is also close to President Kibaki. He and the Head of State were students at Makerere University in Uganda.
They proceeded for further studies at the London School of Economics in the UK. He has met President Kibaki on a few occasions with local delegations.
During his hey day, Nabwera led delegations from Western Province to State House to meet former President Moi.
He dismisses allegations that Lugari was specifically created for him in 1988 allegedly because he was unsuccessful in Lurambi.
"The constituency was not created for me. The population justified the move," he says.
At the time, Nabwera and the late Moses Mudavadi were the top politicians in the province. He may be out of active politics but a tinge of nostalgia rings in his voice when he asks why Kanu officials failed to see that the party was threatened at the beginning of the decade.
"Kanu, as it was at its peak, remains the greatest party the country will have in a long time. At the moment, we don’t have a party that can be compared to Kanu during its peak," notes Nabwera.
He still admires the way the party instilled discipline on its top brass, including suspension and expulsion of errant members. He prescribes similar treatment for young party MPs if the political landscape is to be streamlined.
"I am surprised that an ODM MP campaigned for a candidate from another party in the recent by-elections (in Sotik) and no action was taken," he says, shaking his head.
Party wrath
He adds: "During the Kanu days, such people would have faced the wrath of the party. If you were in Government, you could not issue statements that opposed the same regime. We would deal with you the same day."
With Nabwera as secretary-general and the late Karachuonyo MP Okiki Amayo chairing the disciplinary committee, many Kanu politicians were disciplined.
Nabwera is the chairman of the Nzoia Sugar Company board. He says his toughest challenge is to ensure that cane farmers get good rewards for their work.
Addressing cane farmers in Nzoia recently, Nabwera still sounded like the days of old when he sought votes and appealed to the Government to write off a Sh19.2 billion debt.
Nabwera is married with five children, two sons and three daughters. He lives with his two sons and one daughter at his farm in Kitale. The eldest daughter is a doctor in London.
His wife, Tabitha, is a banana farmer who works with him at the farm. Nabwera married Tabitha in 1958, a year after he was employed by the Government.
