My attention has been drawn to a scathing attack on Azimio Presidential Candidate Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga by Luhya leaders who include; ANC Party Leader Hon Musalia Mudavadi, his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula, Hon Benjamin Washiali and Hon Ababu Namwamba.
In their statement released to the media yesterday, the four leaders who purport to be speaking on behalf of the Luhya Community vented their anger on Hon Odinga who they accused of trading with numbers of the Community to negotiate for entry in Government and later abandoned them after achieving his goal.
The leaders also accused the former Prime Minister of being behind the recent violence in Jacaranda Grounds in Nairobi during the Kenya Kwanza rally.
In my response I state as follows:
· Hon Mudavadi and Hon Wetang’ula have no mandate to speak for the Luhya Community and I therefore urge them to stop using the Community’s name to advance their selfish political interests;
· It is clear that the leaders have been influenced by their master, Deputy President H.E William Ruto to attack Hon Odinga and incite the community against him so as to shake off his influence and popularity in western region;
· It is an open secret that a decision by Mudavadi and Wetang’ula to shelve their purported presidential ambitions was driven by commercial interests and not the interests of the Luhya Community. Therefore, Mudavadi and Wetang’ula are likened to the Biblical Esau who sold his birth rite for bread and stew;
· Mudavadi should be grateful to Hon Odinga for getting him out of political limbo that he was thrown into by former Vihiga Governor H.E Moses Akaranga when he humiliated him in the Sabatia Parliamentary contest in 2002. It is Hon Odinga who held his hand and brought him back into political limelight rising him to the position of Deputy Prime Minister;
· Hon Namwamba on the other hand is Hon Odinga’s political student having been groomed by the former Prime Minister from a nobody to a cabinet minister in the former President Mwai Kibaki’s Government and therefore he should be the last person to throw stones at Hon Odinga;
· Claims by the leaders that Hon Odinga has never had interests of the Community at heart are untrue and unfounded. It is remembered that during the nusu mkate Government Hon Odinga appointed Mudavadi as the Deputy Prime Minister, Kenneth Marende (Speaker of National Assembly) and the following as Cabinet Ministers; Hon Fred Gumo, Hon Dr Paul Otuoma, Hon Namwamba and myself. Hon George Khaniri, Hon Sospeter Ojaamong and Hon Alfred Khang’ati were also appointed as Assistant Ministers;
· The former Prime Minister also initiated various development projects in the region including of key roads.
· It is therefore wrong for Mudavadi and his team to portray
Hon Odinga as a leader who has given little regard to the Luhya Community and never shared dividends of his cake in government with them;
· What Mudavadi and Wetang’ula should be telling the Luhya Community is what have they done for them with the key positions they held in both former President Moi’s and Kibaki’s governments;
I challenge Hon Mudavadi to table his development record for the Luhyia community for the more than 30 years he has held a cabinet position,most importantly Finance docket.
· It is a pity that Mudavadi despite holding key positions in Government including the finance docket, he has not initiated any tangible development project in western. In fact he shocked many when he requested President Uhuru Kenyatta to tarmac a road leading to his home;
· I want to remind them that the Luhya Community has not forgotten the oppression some of their sons have been taken through by the Deputy President including frog matching of Prof Laban Ayiro from Moi University where he was acting as Vice Chancellor and the late Muteshi land saga;
· I attribute Mudavadi and Wetang’ula’s anger to frustrations they are getting in Kenya Kwanza Alliance after Ruto shortchanged them by declaring his presidential candidature on UDA ticket instead of the Alliance;
· The Deputy President’s move is a major setback to Mudavadi and Wetang’ula’s efforts to deliver the 70 per cent vote from western region to the Alliance so as to earn the 30 per cent share of the government if Ruto wins presidency;
· On the Jacaranda Grounds violence, I take this opportunity to condemn acts of hooliganism unleashed on Kenya Kwanza and their supporters. We in Azimio Alliance do not advocate for any form of violence and we ask the security apparatus to investigate the incident and bring perpetrators to book;
· I also want to ask Luhya leaders aligned to the Deputy President to stop linking Rt. Hon. Odinga to the violence and leave the matter to the police to do their work.
· I therefore re-affirm our support and commitment to Hon Odinga and assure him that together with other like-minded leaders we will deliver the western region votes to Azimio.