If the latest political unfolding in Western region is anything to go by, then it seems National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula is a man under siege.
From the pressure of folding his Ford Kenya party to join the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to the emergence of Tawe movement in Western which is being propagated by Tranazoia Governor George Natembeya to pressure of having his ally Susan Nakhumicha, who vied for Transzoia Women Representative through is party to resign as Health Cabinet Secretary over the ongoing strike that has existed for one month.
Prior to her appointment as the Health Cs, Nakhumicha had vied for the political seat in 2022 taking the third position after garnering 32,497, after Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K)’s Phanice Khatundi who got 65,641 and UDA’s Lilian Chebet Siyoi who emerged the winner after garnering 102,488 votes with claims that it was her party leader who fronted her name for the Cabinet Secretary post.
With her impeachment motion knocking at the National Assembly, after Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Wetangula could be between a hard place and a rock as he will have to decide on the fate of his ally.
Owino claimed his motion, which has already received the support of 111 MPs, is based on two grounds: gross violation of the constitution and incompetence saying the doctors’ strike, which began on March 15th, has crippled Kenya’s healthcare system and denied scores of citizens their basic right to healthcare.
And while Nakhumicha is a national figure thanks to her position, she is also embroiled in Trans Nzoia local politics and has from time to time had an altercation with Natembeya in what pundits believe she was angling to vie for gubernatorial candidate seeking to dislodge the first term governor.
Last month, the Cs hit out at the governor over the dire health state in the county, demanding that a health facility should be constructed.
“The hospitals I have are level 6 and it is the governor’s responsibility to improve these hospitals, tell the governor to ensure they have enough medicine and if he will not I will come here myself and do something for these people. It is important that leaders become responsible, and the government has given the governors county funds on time. The president announced that the government has released Sh 32 billion to counties and that is to allow them to deliver services to Kenyans.” she said in Matisi Ward
In his rebuttal, Natembeya called out Nakhumicha for overstepping her office’s authority, telling her to steer clear from politicking and focus on administering her ministerial duties.
He further argued that the health CS has misplaced priorities and should instead work on solving the more critical problems being encountered within the health sector.
“We have a serious problem in the Ministry of Health because there are many problems which ought to have already been solved and they are still stuck,” he said speaking in Kitale town on Saturday.
He added: “She said that she is able to build a hospital in Matisi because she represents the health sector, so why Matisi, or is Matisi the entire nation? She would have gone to Turkana, West Pokot but she should know that the law does not allow a CS to come directly and install a facility develved in counties. Even if she builds a facility here she must speak to me. The moment you become a state officer you put politics aside.” He said.
While President William Ruto is keen on having the Kenya Kwanza affiliate partiers dissolve and join his party, the Ford Kenya party has maintained that it will not heed to the calls and instead will remain as an independent party.
Bungoma Senator David Wafula last month maintained that the Ford-Kenya party will not fold to join the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party as proposed by UDA Secretary General Cleopas Malala.
He said the current party leadership would not allow Ford Kenya to be eroded, stating that there was no agreement in Kenya Kwanza to fold the parties, at the time when President William Ruto-led UDA put in place agreements on operations and that by the dint of being among the first outfits in the country, it was not easy to dissolve the party.
“It was the first party to defend devolution in the country and to us it is a political inheritance, and we can’t toss, dump and destroy our inheritance because of our stomachs, we would like to assure Kenyans that our party was there, it is there, and it will remain,” he said.
He reiterated that the party had its pillars across the country and that they could not just wake up one day and contemplate dissolving the party.
Political pundits believe Wetangula’s woes could be attributed by his hard stance for failing to fold his party with others claiming the ruling party may be wanting to hatch a plan to plant his checkmate to control the Western politics.
According to political analyst Barrack Muluka both the party leaders Musalia Mudavaidi (Amani National Congress (ANC) and Wetanglua could commit a major political suicide if they would agree to fold their parties.
“I have worked with Musaliaand he is a good man and gentle man of Kenya’s politics in the style of Mwai Kibaki but the Western region has not been with him but has largely been the with Raila Oidnga and to some extent a section of it going with Wetangula but when he was made Prime Cabinet Secretary there has been a possibility to the extent that that he will be his own man and stand for President in 2027,” Muluka said.
He opined that the Western region viewed the government as an interregnum, an interval or pause between two periods of office, and that there was a feeling by Western region locals that there ought to be a new government in 2027.
“If you will be in the shadows of the President, even if he makes you his running mate you will be doomed. The death of ANC comes with the exit of Mudavadi and the same case is with Wetangula,” he added.
Natembeya on the other hand has increased his charm offensive mission against Wetangula and his party’s influence in Western region.
Yesterday, Natembeya during an interview with Spice fm, claimed his movement was keen on urging his community peers to reject bad things which he claimed to have been orchestrated by the ‘bad leaders from the Western region.’
“There is a culture of predominant leaders who believe when you join leadership you must lie behind them and we have remained nbackwards for over 30 years and this is what we are seeking to correct because poverty has been orchestrated by somebody so as to control them,” he said.
He claimed Wetangula bargained for his position ‘using a funny explanation;’ that he delivered Bungoma to President William Ruto but claimed the National Assembly Speaker has never bargained anything on behalf of his community.
“Wetangula came with funny explanation that he delivered Bungoma with the 200,000 that voted for Ruto and bargained for himself for his post, we want the leaders to come together and bargain on behalf of the community.If the President wants to Luhya he can go to Raila who has over 20 MP while Ford Kenya, DAP Kenya and ANC have five out of over 40 mpS so the dormant political figure is ODM and we want to change all this that as a community we can bargain for ourselves as a community and not as individuals,” he added.
According to Muluka, speculations were rife that the Tawe movement was being bankrolled by the President but if Wetangula stayed put, he would not lose his influence.
However, the ruling UDA Party Secretary General Cleopas Malala has refuted the claims saying the tiff between Wetanglua and Natembeya was a local affair, and the UDA could not seek to upset Wetangula, a party leader of their affiliate party.
‘We would not in any way seek to create disharmony in any of our party affiliates, but since I come from Western and being an elder brother between the two by the dint of governing the ruling party, I have invited the two leaders together for a truce later this month,” Malala told The Standard on phone.