The decision by United Democratic Forum party leader Benjamin Washiali to merge UDF with Jubilee will automatically cause a natural death to the party in the region. Although he holds that the merger aims to bring development projects at the national level closer to residents, voters from Kakamega County may not positively welcome the idea.
The party which was formed by Musalia Mudavadi who exited and formed the Amani National Congress party, will be viewed as a sell out to the community. Where will UDF source supporters go given that the founder (Mudavadi) has exited? Furthermore who will champion UDF in national politics?
Given that even in 2013 general elections, UDF lost terribly to (Orange Democratic Movement) ODM which won by a landslide in Mudavadi’s backyard, who was the then presidential candidate. How will Luhya people benefit from the merging? Only few individuals in the party benefit while the rest of the voters languish in abject poverty.
The notion that Luhya people have been in opposition for long is a wrong fallacy. If am not wrong, Luhya nation has been in the government and hold top most jobs. The late Kijana Wamalwa served as the vice president; Moody Awori also served as vice president, the current Busia county senator Amos Wako has served in the government as the Attorney general for decades, just to name a few. What did they bring to the Luhya nation?
If we were told that Luhya nation was in the government and apparently nothing good came by, is it wrong to work with opposition.
Although there have been notable state appointments where Luhya people were appointed, the question still crops. Do those appointed persons bring development back to the community?
It is also worthy noting that many political parties are each day rising from Luhya nation. This is a sign of mature politics but these parties are created along tribal basis and what we see are more divisions than ever.
As such parties like UDF are not meant to help the Luhya community but few individuals who already know what they will achieve by merging with the national government.
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