You must apologise for abusing my wife as ‘childless,’ Mbadi tells Gumbo

The row between the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party national chairman and Gwasi MP John Mbadi and Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo is far from over. Mbadi now insists that Gumbo must apologise to his wife for allegedly making derogatory remarks about her being childless. The Rarieda MP allegedly made the remarks on a radio, show.

According to the Gwasi MP who spoke during a recent interview on Radio Nam Lolwe in Kisumu, Gumbo has to personally apologise to his wife for calling her childless. He bitterly expressed anger at his Rarieda counterpart for leading a well-orchestrated scheme to attack his person together with some nominated women leaders from the region.

The two ODM parliamentarians have allegedly not been in good terms since Gumbo triumphed over Mbadi in the race for the coveted Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairmanship last year.

Their differences have played out in public, with Gumbo who has since declared his interest in Siaya County gubernatorial seat accusing Mbadi of meddling in Siaya politics. Gumbo is said to have recently accused Mbadi of being the cause of discontent within ODM because of incompetent leadership having been handed the position on a silver plate.

“Mbadi is used to free things and he has thrived since joining politics. No one even elected him the ODM chairman. He was given the seat for free and it is the same trick he wanted to use in PAC,” Gumbo reportedly claimed during a public rally in Siaya.

Mbadi however denied the allegations and took issue with what he termed as Gumbo’s laxity in fighting graft through his position as the head of PAC. “Gumbo must be vocal just like it has been with past PAC chairmen like Oginga Odinga, Wamalwa Kijana, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. His silence has seen graft reports watered down by government operatives,” Mbadi claimed.

The genesis of the verbal exchange however allegedly stems from Gumbo’s alleged dismissal of Mbadi’s wife, who also hails from Rarieda, as being childless. That was towards the end of last year. “I was invited by Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga to be his chief guest during the State of the County address.

I informed Gumbo, Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi and Dr Oburu Oburu about the invite, but Gumbo told me to ask the governor why he was inviting me and not him (Gumbo). I chose to attend the event and that is when the insults started,” claimed Mbadi.

He added, “Unless he (Gumbo) apologises to my wife, I will not take the matter lightly. We can clash in politics, but should not drag our families into our political differences.”

But Gumbo who spoke on the same radio station generally apologised to those he wronged in 2015 even as he denied ever insulting Mbadi’s wife. Mbadi however claims the MP did not apologise.