A portrait of Moses Masika Wetangula through Bukusu music, urban legend and hearsay
Politics is war. Without the bullets, bombs and hopefully refugees. And so Mudavadi has Michael Osundwa Sakwa to do a job on Oparanya in the manner that Wetang`ula has Khalwale on. Ababu’s overflowing with brotherly love as he shovels propaganda to bury Mudavadi.
The Wamalwa-Uhuru bromance comes second only to the defiance of a good wife by the side of her public figure husband battling accusations of improper sexual relations-in the manner that Hillary Diane Rodham stuck on Bill- sitoki. Sibanduki. But as they say, all is fair in love and war.
The Swahili would dismiss these as skirmishes of harmless sibling rivalry: Ukweli ni kuwa Ndungu wawili wakipigana, chukua jembe kaende shambani wakirudiana chukua kikapu ukavune. But as Aesop, slave and storyteller in ancient Greece tells us in “ Fable of the fighting bulls and the frog "
The Wamalwa-Uhuru bromance comes second only to the defiance of a good wife by the side of her public figure husband battling accusations of improper sexual relations-in the manner that Hillary Diane Rodham stuck on Bill- sitoki. Sibanduki. But as they say, all is fair in love and war.
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| Politics like chess, is a game of strategy |
Two bulls were fighting furiously in a field, at one side of which was a marsh. An old frog living in the marsh, trembled as he watched the fierce battle.
"What are you afraid of?" asked a young frog.
"Do you not see," replied the old frog, "That the bull who is beaten, will be driven away from the good forage up there to the reeds of this marsh, and we shall all be trampled into the mud?"
It turned out as the frog had said. The beaten bull was driven to the marsh, where his great hoofs crushed the frogs to death.
Moral of the story? “When the great fall out, the weak must suffer for it.” At your peril then, dismiss media reports of Ford Kenya’s proclamation of a total lock down of Mulembe Nation from ODM. Unlike Mudavadi, Wamalwa or Pius Tawfiq Ababu Namwamba, Moses Masika Wetang`ula is a known Nandeti we Tosi! But before we get to why the Ford Kenya leader has the foresight of the old frog in Aesop’s fable, let’s set the stage.
Why Jubilee’s solitary strategy in dealing with NASA centers on disenfranchisement of Mulembe Nation
“Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor,”
- Ernest Hemingway in "Death in the Afternoon"
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| Image: Madrid Traveler |
The people of Mulembe understandably want to be done with the 2017 Kenya general elections. In fact, they can’t wait. By all projections, the famed zima taa brews will keep decimating transformers in other regions. Those kill me quick brews will not find landing in the land of Babami and Kamabongobongo. Moreover, by 2022, there will be no baiskili boda bodas that have been accused of rendering the contents of the family jewels of our young men useless.
Most importantly, Chiunwa chine chikhabuye esilongo. Mudavadi, Wetang`ula, Wamalwa and Ababu (the Chiunwa: Bulls) will have a`la Spanish bullfighting distinguished themselves. By then we will have hint as to who among them is the true Manso (coward bull) Parado (tired bull that’s generally cautious, wounded and liable to attack with cunning) and the Toro bravo/ toro de Lidia (brave bull).
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| Khubuya |
An elder tasked with the responsibility of debriefing the initiates is given busaa in a special calabash. This elder then delivers the life lessons, pauses, sips his busaa and spits kamasifwa. In similar vein, we the people of Mulembe will ask the four gentlemen to get into a room. We will then unleash elders on them. The likes of Wako, Kombo, Wangamati Snr, Wakoli, Akaranga, Gumo, Atwoli etc.
Nga basisikha chisekhe ne banyanya elomo. Khukhababite! The message will then be delivered by the wise Marende. Mulembe nation will then bless Kenya with one of them for the start of the Mulembe Nation reign lasting 40 years..10 years each for Wetang`ula, Mudavadi, Ababu and Wamalwa in whichever order.
We say this because the Eugine Wamalwa and Mudavadi show of unity in 2013 proved that Omurakori ne Omubukusu can do it. In 2017, Wetang`ula and Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi made luhya unity a foregone conclusion. In fact, to our list of four Chiunwa, add Oparanya. And now that I have mentioned Oparanya, make it 50 years of Mulembe dynasty.
But for all this to work, one man needs to be entirely game. Not because he’s like Esau the thief who stole his brother’s birthright, but because in the thick of political contest he sits where the Field Marshall is in military rank. A friend tells me that four Field Marshall’s save for artillery pack a punch as much as a battalion. These guys are totally badass!
I tell you this man has fine strategy minds under his beck and call. Just like Raila can summon the brains of Senior Counsel Orengo, Professors Nyongo and Zani; Moses Masika Wetang`ula has a Rtd Major General and medical doctor, a Bukusu Elder and an additional medical doctor as part of his mastermind group.
Masika Wetang`ula Omubutu
This man, Moses Masika Wetang`ula, was born late in 1956. Moses must have been born after a death in the community/family thus the Masika name. Masika is a male Bukusu name given to male children born during/after a funeral. Masika is Enombela: The shoot that sprouts from a fallen tree.
Wetang`ula attended humble schools like with Wekesa’s, Wafula’s ne` Wanyama. Nalondo Primary School, Busakala Secondary School, Teremi Secondary School (all in his home constituency: Kabuchai) and Friends School Kamusinga for his A Levels. He then proceeded to the University of Nairobi where he studied Bachelor of Laws. Masika of the Omubutu clan enjoys dark colored suits and ties with a pop of color. But you are likely to find him in Khaki trousers matched with Nelson Mandela like shirts or the Ford Kenya green and white shirt. Moses stands at slightly more than 6feet tall.
Wetang`ula has this characteristic widows peak hairline: A teasing strip of hair running right in the middle of his brow forming a sharp V. You know that one as kids we christened Kiherere? That one. This Kiherere hairline gives him a perfect heart shape face. Baby faced even. Always clean shaven, Moses is considered light skinned by Bukusu standards.
Let me tell you about Moses` smile. Weta far from what you see on TV is not a smiley face. He rarely smiles. But when he does, from his lips escapes that rare gem; a disarming smile, complete with a bewitching incisor teeth gap commonly referred to as Embanya.
Hon. Wetang`ula has good command of all languages I know. He speaks Bukusu, impeccable English (Don’t we all love his press statements like this one dressing down WSR?) And if you want to know how good his Swahili is, tune in to live Senate proceedings where he occasionally breaks into Kiswahili.
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| Kutalang'i |
He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed
William James, the father of American Psychology, is credited with this saying, but it is this quote by the lesser prominent Wallace that exposit Moses Masika Wetang`ula’s temperament:
"There's a difference between an opportunist, and someone who seizes an opportunity. One selfishly harvests the fruits of another's labor, the other strategically helps plant the seeds. The latter can be an asset, the former will always be a leech."
- Carlos Wallace, "Life Is Not Complicated-You Are: Turning Your Biggest Disappointments Into Your Greatest Blessings"
Moses Wetang`ula was first nominated to parliament in 1992 by President Moi. For those like me who were still khutobotia kamatosi and eating Kamafunyo; this around the time Cyrus Jirongo and William Ruto were forming Y2K to stem the opposition’s onslaught on KANU’s rule with clamor for multiparty politics.
Unlike master political brokers Jirongo and Ruto, Wetang`ula is rumored to have benefited from the nomination slot meant for his father KANU stalwart, Councillor Dominic Wetang`ula. Wetang`ula senior is said to have requested the president to consider his son Moses instead.
Testament to our earlier reference of him has Feild Marshall, Wetang`ula picked up from these scraps and has had been in Kenya’s legislative arm of government for close to 30 years. He has represented Sirisia constituency from 2002 to 2013. In 2013, he joined the senate as the inaugural leader of minority on a CORD ticket.
Save for his failed bid in 1997, Wetang`ula has never been out in the cold thanks to his acumen in cold calculation. Take the example that while serving as the Sirisia legislator, a chunk of his constituency- Chwele to Mt Elgon that forms the current Sirisia constituency- felt isolated and neglected.
The people of Sirisia fronted Major John Walukhe as to challenge Wetang`ula. Needless to say, that there is no love lost between the current Sirisia legislator (Jubilee point man) and Hon. Wetang`ula. When opportunity presented itself in the name of the Andrew Ligale led IIEBC, constituency boundary review, Hon.Wetang`ula welcomed the idea to hive off Kabuchai from Sirisia.
After the demise of doyen Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Ford Kenya had three strong candidates for its leadership: Moses Wetang`ula, Musikari Kombo and Mukhisa Kituyi. Musikari Kombo took forte shortly before decamping to New Ford Kenya. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi followed Kombo to New Ford Kenya before exiling to the lucrative post of UNCTAD sec.general.
The intrigues behind this speedy shift in allegiances is one the three gentlemen will one day tell. But it must have been too hot in there. Am not accusing him of starting the fire, but Moses Wetang`ula was the last man standing. A decade, thereabouts, after been nominated by the last ruling parliament to parliament, Wetang`ula was now in control of a respected brand in Kenya’s opposition struggle.
He took over Ford Kenya leadership with gusto exhibiting his gusto for alliances of convenience: NARC in 2002 which yield the foreign affairs minister position allowing him the platform to build and deepen multilateral relationships necessary for ascending to the presidency; CORD in 2012 which made him Senate minority leader and built his credentials as a national leader and and people’s champion; and now NASA in 2017 as proposed Deputy Chief Minister.
Son of Pilate
Wetang`ula the politician is a bully. He is shrewd. Brutal. Referred to as Okhwa Pilato. Lethal. Calculating. Conniving. His key strength is his ability to maintain contacts with all his campaign machinery. Few dare betray him. Anyone who has engaged him in political battle is left licking his wounds years later. When he perceives one as a threat, he makes sure he ‘buries the enemy in a political grave with his two hands’. Opponents therefore dare not give him the spade, jembe, hammer and opportunity for obvious reasons.
Moses` reign has not been without controversies. Wetang`ula has been adversely mentioned in the Tokyo embassy scandal where the Kenyan taxpayer is said to have lost approximately Ksh 1.6 Billion. His 2012 senatorial election win was contested. In a petition filed by Musikari Kombo, it was alleged that Wetang`ula bribed voters. The election result was nullified. However, Hon. Wetang`ula, a man of nine lives, recaptured the seat with a landslide in a by election.
Weta has been implicated in countless sexual and marital scandals. In Proverbs 31:1-3, King Lemuel laments:
What, O my son? And what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows? Do not give your strength to women, Or your ways to that which destroys kings.
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| From King David to Lwanda Magere, many rulers, kings, politicians and leaders have fallen to the ways of willy women |
The man, the legend
Wetang`ula has never campaigned for more than three months. His is the Ford Kenya party leader. He is in charge. He knows when and whom to send. Or rather like in the viral Chuck Norris internet memes they send they themselves. While posters print themselves, climb up electricity poles and up the walls of mukongo kwe embwa shops and stick themselves. During campaigns, no village is too deep for Wetang`ula to enter. No hut too smokey for his bespectacled heart shaped face.
It is believed that most Bukusu men and women who hold plum positions in the country are courtesy of his lobbying. Yet he still divides opinion in manner second only to his co principal Raila Odinga. People who love him do it with so much passion bordering sycophancy. On the other hand, those that hate him don't even wish to see his face or hear his voice.
The Bukusu have a way of appreciating their own by naming and composing songs of praise. Countless males sons have been called after him. Songs have been composed in his honor. One such song done by Steve K Soreri wefwe Wetang`ula kola i.e. Our boy Wetang`ula has arrived. Steve K tells us how Kakamega, Busia, Women, Men, Trans Nzoia...everyone is excited to welcome Wetang`ula. Ladies and gentlemen, let`s rise from our seats, Kila mtu na mapeka yake, time to shake a leg. Indulge!
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