The 2017 Ford Kenya party primaries in Bumula constituency of Bungoma County were chaotic. And that\’s an understatement. Mwambu Mabonga vs Jack Wamboka was a political contest rife with counter accusations of violence and political gamesmanship in proportions vulgar enough to question the meaning of democracy itself.
Needless to say, the Bumula Ford Kenya debacle was representative of the turbulence that characterize political campaigns, year in year out, in Mulembe Nation’s second most populous county. Mwambu Mabonga, then a Ford Kenya party stalwart, lost the nomination to his main challenger Jack Wamboka.
The Wetangula led lion party of Mulembe Nation handed the nomination certificate to Jack Wamboka in spite of Mwambu’s protestations that his Kimaeti stronghold had been denied the opportunity to vote.
However, in their wisdom, the party’s election board later back tracked on this decision recalling Jack Wamboka’s certificate following a strong case by Mwambu Mabonga.
On losing the nomination certificate, Jack Wamboka armed with the party’s official nomination results that portrayed his clear “win” headed to the political parties tribunal which reaffirmed his victory and nullified Ford Kenya’s decision to have Mwambu Mabonga as its candidate for Bumula MP.
With that, the stage was set: Incumbent Boniface Otsyula on Jubilee ticket, fervent Jack Wamboka on Ford Kenya ticket, conniving fox Wakoli Bifwoli on Jirongo’s United Democratic Party (UDP) and ‘Messiah’ Mwambu Mabonga on an independent ticket.
Mwambu Mabonga – Ukipanda mema, utavuna mema
Spurred on by the wave of nomination losers seeking redemption via an “independent” candidacy and fueled by emotional portrayal of victim-hood, Mwambu Mabonga — previously a two time loser to Wakoli Bifwoli and Boniface Otsyula in tandem — unleashed his oratory skills in Lubukusu to pound heavily on the two front runners.
Jack Wamboka had been overly damaged by the nomination fiasco that had him battling the tag of ‘ Esau who stole his brothers birthright’. So Mwambu now had to deal with Wakoli and Otsyula. A consummate orator, Mwambu Mabonga viciously went after them: portraying Hon. Wakoli as a Jubilee ‘spoiler’ project and incumbent Otsyula and the entire Jubilee brigade in Bungoma led by now Senate Speaker, then incumbent Bungoma Governor Ken Makelo Lusaka, as tumbocrats.
All this time concealing his true allegiance whilst directing the people’s anger from the nomination fiasco towards Wakoli and Otsyula for fronting ‘foreign’ interests. Ukipanda mema utavuna mema. Je, ukipanda maouvu? We await to see if talk rife in Bungoma County social media platforms of a recall will gather steam. Heck, who knew a Facebook post could generate so much heat! I bet you didn’t know that Hon. Mwambu when you penned that statement on FB, or did you?
Update 5/26/2021.
The recall attempt turned to have materialized only on social media. There were reports of signatures collected from the public, but nothing materialled from the talk. In some ways, the MP was vindicated for his political stand when other Bungoma MPs, notably Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, coalesced around Deputy President William Ruto in what came to be known as the Tangatanga arm of Jubilee party. Mwambu Mabonga continues to serve his first term as Bumula MP.