Wetang’ula stirs fresh trouble in Ford-Kenya

By Juma Kwayera

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula has stirred the hornet’s nest by demanding his party, Ford-Kenya, holds fresh national elections a year before they are due. He argues the party needs reinvigoration ahead of the 2012 General Election.

The minister’s new push for reorganisation in Ford-Kenya follows his previously stated intention to run for president. This has elicited more scorn than applause in a party that is anything but a vibrant political outfit as it was under the late Vice-President Michael Wamalwa.

Wetang’ula’s demand has opened old wounds, with Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa launching a vicious tirade at the minister. For nearly a week, the minister has been responding to criticism over what his peers described as "arrogance and lack of respect".

The standoff between the Sirisia MP and his colleagues provides a rare peek into the politics of a party that appears to be fast receding into oblivion, even in its Western Province stronghold, where Orange Democratic Movement has eclipsed it.

In an interview by The Standard on Sunday, leaders from the province were unanimous that Ford-Kenya chairman Musikari Kombo, Wetang’ula, Assistant Lands Minister Wakoli Bifwoli and Wamalwa "were washing their dirty linen in public at a time the region was beginning to find a common voice on national issues."

The four have openly disagreed on how the party should be re-anchored as it seeks autonomy from the Party of National Unity.

"What was on show is lack of respect for one another. It is a replay of the past when some politicians threw respect to the dogs and did the dirty work for forces outside the province. We in other parties were appalled by the altercation that bordered on deep-seated utter disregard for decorum and respect," Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo said.

‘Bungoma province’

Jirongo is the chairman and only Kaddu MP, but his party is not part of the Grand Coalition.

Save for Wamalwa who was bereaved, Kombo and Bifwoli did not take telephone calls for most of last week. Their mobile phones rang on-end.

Kimilili MP David Eseli Simiyu said: "Some among us think they can dictate to the rest of the party. Party elections can be conducted when and if the decision is made through consultation and consensus. Ford-Kenya does not belong to an individual."

Wetang’ula is said to be pushing for the creation of ‘Bungoma Province’ and removing from his way potential local opponents. This was how former Friends School Kamusinga Principal Simon Nabukwesi landed an ambassadorial position in Canada with the help of the minister, sources say.

As Foreign Minister, he is hierarchically speaking the second senior-most leader from Western Province in the Grand Coalition Government after Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi. The position has elevated him from the shadows of Kombo and former Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, who constituted the vanguard of Bungoma.

Until these two more seasoned politicians flopped in the 2007 polls, Wetang’ula was perceived as a political conformist. He made his breakthrough as an advocate when he represented suspected 1982 coup plotters at a time few lawyers would dare go against the State. Next was his appointment to the Robert Ouko Commission of Inquiry in 1990, which raised his profile as an advocate.

Until he joined politics, Wetang’ula represented many Kanu leaders in corruption cases — the most high profile being the Goldenberg fraud. The minister’s law firm had also been retained by Nairobi City Council to appear for it in various corruption cases. His law firm executed last year’s questionable sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.

His fellow MPs say the Sirisia MP is riding high financially being the highest-ranking MP in the Grand Coalition Government from Bungoma after Kombo lost his ministerial perch. Wetang’ula has been fighting to lead the party he previously wanted to kill.

The minister has locked horns with colleagues in Parliament, who accuse him of being a ‘traitor’. The issue? The minister rarely interacts with his colleagues from Western Province, but prefers the company of PNU stalwarts from Mt Kenya.

No response

Attempts to get the minister to respond to these allegations failed as he has not been picking calls, neither did he respond to a text message over the same. But his push to rally Western behind him is construed to mean he has set his sights beyond the dovish and laidback Mudavadi.

His bid to align Western Province to PNU has irked his colleagues in Parliament, who perceive him to be doing the bidding for the party.

"For one to claim to have support, he must have strong grassroots following. It is foolhardy to demand national elections without getting endorsement at the grassroots," Eseli says of Wetang’ula’s call for Ford-Kenya polls.