The rise and fall of MP John Waluke

Little is known about the early childhood of Sirisia MP John Koyi Waluke, who is in the thick of a Sh297 million maize fraud case. Today, he has lost appeal in the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) fraud case after High Court Judge Esther Maina ordered him to pay Sh1 billion fine or serve 57 years in jail.

However, there is a consensus among those who saw the MP grow up in a sleepy village called Yabeko in rural Bungoma County, that his life took an upward trajectory when he crossed paths with the family of the late Mathew Sarapayi Wakhungu. This is after Wakhungu, whose home in Butonge village is a ridge away from the village where Waluke was born and bred, decided to offer the then lanky and unassuming young man a job as a family driver.

Being a busy man, Wakhungu, a medic and a father of five, tasked his trusted kinsman to be chauffeuring his wife, Grace Awori, then general manager at Kenya Reinsurance, and later Consolidated Bank, and other members of his family.

Rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty

The nature of the job meant that Waluke rubbed shoulders with Grace, a sister to former VP Moody Awori and a scion of the larger Awori family that has dominated politics, education, commerce, engineering, sports and academia in Kenya.

Being a highly ambitious man, Waluke quickly exploited the ties with the family matriarch, whose children include former Environment CS Prof Judi Wakhungu, and was soon enlisted in the military. According to one of the MP's childhood friends, he did not last long in the army, now Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) for undisclosed reasons.

Again, his closeness to the Wakhungus counted and as he was connected to a leading politician at that time as part of Bwana Mkubwa's private security guard.

"It's during his stint as one of the influential politician's guard that he earned the name 'Major'. The nickname has since then stuck," the friend who requested anonymity told The Nairobian.

Jacob Juma factor

Waluke, however, refers to himself as a retired army major. KDF had not confirmed his actual rank and why he left the army by the time we went to press.

Rubbing shoulders with politicians must have spurred an interest in him to join the murky world, and in 1992, he started involving himself in local politics as one of the young people supporting the re-election of President Daniel Moi.

His decision to rally support for the ruling party then was no coincidence, considering that Ben Wakhungu, his former boss' son, was a member of the moneyed Youth for Kanu lobby group that was campaigning for Moi's re-election. Ben, a former advertising executive, is credited with suggesting the addition of '92 in the name of the famous Youth for Kanu '92.

Former Cabinet minister Cyrus Jirongo was the leader of the lobby group of politicians from Kanu. The late controversial businessman Jacob Juma was among Jirongo's right hand men. It is these connections that would land Waluke, and the elderly Mrs Grace Wakhungu, in hot soup for Juma was a third director at Erad Supplies and General Contractors - the firm that is at the centre of the storm in the maize deal with the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

Controversial

The politician hardly ever speaks in Parliament, but his most memorable performance happened when he was caught on camera storming out of the parliament canteen with a cup of tea and a tea pot.

"Parliament cannot afford a packet of milk that costs Sh50, this is bad... hii kabirika ni Sh100 with no milk... hakuna hata chumvi kwa mboga. Nothing!" stated the visibly agitated lawmaker.

Before that, the MP had been in the news in October 2014 after he was indicted by National Speaker Justin Muturi for exchanging blows with his then Teso North colleague, Arthur Odera. Odera, in his testimony to the Power and Privileges Committee, claimed that Waluke accosted him in the corridors of the House as he walked away and pulled him back and threatened to "knock off his teeth."

Waluke denied issuing the threats.

"Thereafter he asserted that I do not know him well and threatened that he is going to teach me a lifelong lesson," claimed Odera.

In December 2017, he was caught up in a roadside brawl with a woman said to be his wife. In March 2018, he was back in the news after he nearly engaged in a fistfight with the Bungoma Deputy Governor. In a live TV interview after the embarrassing altercation, the lawmaker vowed to punish the deputy governor. "Mimi ni jeshi, nitaweza kumtengeneza vizuri (I am an army man, I will 'fix' him).

He has been involved in a political tiff with his Kimilili counterpart Didimus Barasa that nearly turned ugly. This was after Barasa declared himself as the Bungoma Jubilee Party chairperson, dethroning Waluke.

The bloodless coup led to a clash of supporters of the two leaders, prompting the personal intervention of then Deputy President William Ruto, who reportedly reached out to Barasa and asked him to back down.