From grace to grass: Former councillor and wife living in abject poverty, have no house

Former councillor Samuel Makabira, 86, during an interview with Standard at his home Emupongo village in Butere on October 31, 2023. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

At the age of 26 years, he became the first councillor of Plateau ward in the then Sirikwa County Council, a position he held between 1963 and 1969.

It was the same time Kenya had gained its independence from the British colonialists.

Samuel Makabira, who hails from Mpongo village in Butere constituency, was elected on the Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) ticket under the leadership of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

“We used to conduct joint campaigns those days in organised political rallies and no money was given to voters to influence them in any way,” said Mr Makabira, who used to earn a salary of Sh15 per month.

"During our time, there was no provision for sitting or committee allowances. It was purely service to the people," he recalled.

When the General Elections were called on December 6, 1969, the first since independence in 1963, Makabira opted out of the race saying the salary was 'too small' to sustain his family and the needs of the voters.

For two decades, between 1970 -1992, he lived a quiet life. However, when the late President Daniel Arap Moi repealed Section 2A of the constitution, giving birth to multiparty democracy, Makabira teamed up with fierce Butere politician Martin Shikuku, who died in August 2012.

He also worked with second liberators such as Jaramogi Oginga, former minister, the late Masinde Muliro, late former Vice President Wamalwa Kijana, Siaya Governor James Orengo, lawyers Paul Mwite and Gitobu Imanya, among others.

Mr Samuel Makabira and his wife Evalyne Eshihunwa at their home in Emupongo in Butere, Kakamega, on Tuesday. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

In an exclusive interview with The Standard at his home, Makabira narrated how GSU officers senselessly beat him up during a Saba Saba rally in 1992, “and left me for the dead. However, God saved me from the ‘jaws of death."

He would then go back to elective politics and on a Ford Asili ticket, he was elected as the Marama West ward councillor. The ward is now divided into Marama North and Marama West wards. He served in the position from 1993-1997.

The father of eight did not defend his seat in subsequent elections. He said in the ’90s, civic leaders used to earn a paltry Sh3,900 as salary with no commuter, committee, and sitting allowances, something he says made it difficult for them to do their work as councillors.

And 25 years after leaving politics, Mr Makabira is a pale shadow of his former self.

He was a firebrand politician who went by the moniker; “people’s watchman” for always defending the rights of the people.

Those who know him in political circles argue that he is a perfect example of the Midas curse; that the more he defended his people by fighting the government and becoming more popular among the locals, the more the 86-year-old veteran politician set himself up for self-destruction.

He doesn’t have a house save for a ramshackle structure he erected in 1995 when he was still a councillor. His wife, Everline Eshiunwa, 83, is blind and critically ill.

“When people see me coming to ask for help, they say ‘Siasa ya Martin Shikuku ilikuharibu (Shikuku style of politics ‘destroyed’ you), and then they walk away,” said Makabira.

The octogenarian said no one in the political circles and those in government wants to associate with him despite helping some of them get elective positions.

“My wife is blind and needs at least Sh50, 000 for a check-up but I don’t have the money. El Nino rains are beckoning and if we are not rescued, this house may collapse and kill us. The entire rooftop is leaking and when it rains, our house becomes a lake," he said.

He added: “I am calling upon Governor Fernandes Barasa and well-wishers to come to our rescue. All I want is shelter and treatment for my wife. I was the first councillor of President William Ruto, I am appealing to him to also rescue me."

In his house, there’s a small bed that is covered with cartons and worn-out clothes that serve as the old couple's bedding.

There are two tiny old tables and five chairs made of wires. The chairs are without cushions on them. What used to be a kitchen collapsed a couple of years ago.

Makabira lost three children and the remaining five are not only jobless but equally hopeless just like their father.

“When I see someone coming to my home, I feel ashamed because I live like a pauper.  I am a perfect example of the living dead," he said.

"This life has no meaning but if someone can hear my cry, then please come to our rescue. We need a house and my wife needs treatment,” said Makabira.

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