Senator Cleophas Malala: The Julius Malema of Kenya

Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala. [File, Standard]

Supporters of Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala see a youthful and unstoppable politician who does not leave the battlefield until the war is over.

His opponents see a rebellious, traitorous, disrespectful and combative leader, perhaps biting faster than he can chew. But they all agree the Kakamega Senator is a politician to watch.

Malala, 32, a talented award winning playwright and one of Kenya’s youngest senators, has always gone against the grain. He does not believe in being given. He takes it.

The lawmaker has the defiance and restlessness of South Africa’s Julius Malema. His meteoric rise has been swift just as it has been controversial. His peers thought he was out of his mind when he declared he was going to fight for senatorship. From an MCA, he came out as a man punching above his weight, and he is not one of the lightest politicians. He shocked some when he was declared the winner.

His courage has surprised friend and foe. But his close friends know this is who he has always been. A fierce critic of the establishment, a passionate defender of the weak, a rabble-rouser and a restless being. He seems to enjoy it. He is quickly cutting an image as the strongest general for Raila Odinga in western.

When we ask for this interview, he had just been elected deputy minority leader in the Senate, to deputise Senator James Orengo, following the ODM ouster of Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula this week. “I welcome the nomination with both hands,” he says.

He says his office was still being renovated, so he offers to meet over lunch at Parliament buildings. He comes out as a warm, easy to talk to individual in charge of his thoughts. He borrows a tie from his manager to be ready for the afternoon sitting.

Malala believes it is time ‘political old guards’ cleared the way for youthful leaders to inject fresh ideas into the political scene.

“I was in class two when Senator Wetang’ula was first nominated to Parliament. There comes a time when the old generation must leave the fight to the upcoming generations to finish the fight. This is the time,” he says adding that the Bungoma Senator should stop fighting for similar positions and instead elevate himself, together with other NASA principals to offering advice.

“You cannot fight with age. We need leaders who can run a marathon with the youthful Jubilee leaders,” he says.

From a representative of Mahiakalo ward in Kakamega County, to his position at the Senate, Malala has found a vacuum left by politicians from Western. If there is any politician he has given nightmares, then it is Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.

From the days he was an MCA, Malala was the ‘whistle blower’ of the county.

“I am a watchman. This is what I enjoy doing. Looking after people’s welfare. I understood my job of an MCA as not being a rubberstamp in the assembly, but being eyes of my ward members,” he says.

He took any opportunity to tear into Oparanya’s record. Ousting him as the deputy speaker did not stop him.

One morning in July 2015, Oparanya had had enough of the attacks and sought to put an end to it during a funeral in Matungu attended by NASA chief Raila Odinga. 

The governor lost his cool and took matters in his own hands in a dramatic confrontation in the presence of Raila.

“I think the governor went overboard. In every political field you should allow criticism,” he says.

“We had the Sh200 million Mumias Sugar Company saga going on, we had the list of shame presented in the National Assembly by the President which had named one of the Kakamega County executives,” he says.

He says his fight against corruption has seen the county pull out Sh200 million given to a private firm to pay farmers for sugarcane delivery to Mumias Sugar Company. He also pushed for legislation to support the Oparanya Care programme.

Malala now plans to work differently. “I want to change the mindset that a Senator is out to oppose a Governor. His role is to be an ambassador of the county at the national level,” he says.

He recently went to court after the Kenya National Examination Council nullified results of schools including Kakamega’s Chebuyusi Secondary. The court ruled in his favour.

On national politics

The senator is also the leader of the G40 Group that nurtures upcoming thespians and inspires them to script. He is pushing for the Equity and Equalisation Bill for Kakamega County which will ensure fairness in sharing of resources.

“We want to come up with a formula to share our resources as Kakamega County so that it does not matter who is elected as a Governor,” he says.

On national politics, Malala says owing to mixed signals being sent by the three NASA co-principals, Wetang’ula, Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka, he has decided to stick with Raila.

“I have decided to follow the leader of the coalition because he knows the route to follow,” he adds.