ANC Deputy leader Ayub Savula, Khwisero MP Aseka Miradi and Matungu Mp Peter Nabulindo, signaling shifting alliance were among the host of political leaders drawn from across western who attended a strategy meeting hosted by COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli, at his Muluanda home in Khwisero Kakamega county.
The high powered, highly politically significant meeting had ODM deputy party leader and Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya in attendance. But it is the presence of Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who arrived at the meeting via chopper at around 2 pm that 26th December of 2021, that left little doubt on who had paid the piper.
“Hii siasa ya Waluhya tumesema hatutaki brokers wa kukuja kuanza kugawanisha waluhya. They say that the meeting will unite all Luhyas so that they say Raila tosha on 31st. And even if you want to say Raila tosha, you can do that in Kondele or Siaya. Kakamega is a no-go-zone and we are serious about it,”
Cleopas Malala, Kakamega Senator
Atwoli’s meeting ran parallel with another, a mega political rally at the 40th Maragoli Cultural Festivals at Mbale grounds, Mbale, Vihiga county. In attendance were none other than ANC Party leader Musalia Mudavadi fellow OKA luminary Moses Wetangula who is also Ford Kenya Party leader, several MPs, MCAs, political and business leaders.
Mudavadi and Wetangula reaction to Bukhungu 2
This group, who the ANC ‘defectors’ at Raila’s event insinuated was working with Deputy President William Ruto, wasted no time dismissing Atwoli’s Bukhungu 2 plans slated for 31st December of 2021. Dubbed the ‘Bukhungu Declaration’ where it expected that the COTU Secretary General will as he had done for Musalia Mudavadi in Bukhungu 1 slated for 31st December 2021.
“I will not go to Bukhungu on December 31. Atwoli is not seeking any votes but he is telling us he will determine who should be elected,”
— Musalia Mudavadi, ANC Party Leader
Atwoli, run!
Ask any politician worth anything and they all hold the same opinion of someone who has never run for political office, let alone win when they run. Speaking in Vihiga, affirming his partnership with Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya Party leader was agile in his delivery, putting Atwoli is his place.
“We have been taken for a ride for many years. We have been good and generous to the other communities but gotten little in return. A good turn deserves another. Some of those we supported are now working with Atwoli who has never been elected. We want to tell Atwoli that enough is enough and we will stop him,”
— Moses Wetangula, Ford Kenya Party Leader