It’s 1048hrs, Saturday morning when I finally get a chance to indulge in social media. There’s nothing much on WhatsApp. Trending on Tweeter is the maize scandal. Swipe that. I am in no mood for such depressing stuff. Off to Facebook where this post on Bungoma Digest gets me glued on. It’s a post by one Tim Machi. It had been posted 1hr ago but had a staggering 300 comments! Something juicy must be on. My heart leaps. Tim is a co admin of Bungoma Digest. A closed group he founded a couple of years ago. Why the group was formed and its vision is a story for another day. Tim`s post has disturbing news. News that’s likely to be a spanner in the works for the grueling Bungoma governor race. Joseph Kubende was attacked last night!
Meet The Contenders: Emboko Lusaka vs. Emboko Wangamati (the rest are Biunwa!)
Bungoma county gubernatorial race has two main contenders: Wycliffe Wangamati commonly referred to as WWW and the incumbent Kenneth Lusaka. Wycliffe is the son of Hon Patrick Wangamati – a Ford Kenya nominated Member of Parliament. Wycliffe has been working as CEO of Alexander Forbes. He is also a businessman of repute in Bungoma town. Now, he’s in politics. WWW will be contesting for the Bungoma governor seat on Ford Kenya Party.
Ken Lusaka on the other hand was a Mwai Kibaki era permanent secretary in the ministry of livestock before clinching the Bungoma county gubernatorial seat. Ken will be defending his seat on the Jubilee party. His 5years tenure have been marred with lots of scandals.
Sibunogenic
The most infamous of which earned Ken Lusaka the nick name sibunogenic. Clever word pun play of the Bukusu word sibuno meaning the buttocks; and the medical term carcinogenic-a reference that stems from the frivolous claims of special properties that made a slaughterhouse wheelbarrow cost a whooping Ksh109,000/=
First, Lusaka is in the same age-set as my father. Secondly, it is a taboo among the people of Mulembe for a child to discuss his father`s behinds. Moreover, this a family blog. I refuse to delve into details of Bungoma behinds and their affliction for wheelbarrows. But I advice you to ask, next time you chance upon anyone from Bungoma, about sibunogenic and they will regale you with stories of Lusaka’s escapades to your fill. But for all the bad press that the wheelbarrow scandal was/is, it pales in gravity to the Joseph Kubende aka Kubende Wa\’Wekhomba factor.
If Sibunogenic Isn’t A Mountain Too High for Lusaka, Here Comes WWW’s Kubende Wa Wekhomba
Joseph the choir master. The cheer leader. The matador. Joseph Kubende he of the WWW campaign team is a middle age male in his early thirties or thereabouts. Joseph doesn’t stand more than 6feet tall. Athletic. Sharp dresser. Charming. Wears spectacles with carefully chosen frames and clear lenses that makes one make eye contact regardless.
Joseph has this seductive embanya between his incisors. The type of mwanya big enough to fit another tooth. A firm handshake to boot. When Joseph speaks, he bellows. He has this deep, boisterous, rustic voice.
Joseph speaks while singing. On the WWW campaign trail, it is Kubende Wa\’Wekhomba who speaks last, ushering in and setting the stage for WWW. And girl, Joseph has a way with words. Kubende Wa\’Wekhomba has this good command of the expression and word rich Lubukusu.
It is a mastery replete with old sayings, epigrams, idioms and parables. This, a feat quite impressive for his age given that there are very few Bukusus with this gift of garb — whose masters are the likes of eminences Hon. Masinde Muliro wa Makinia, Hon. Wamalwa Kijana, and Hon.Wakoli Bifwoli.
But why is all this of note? Well, grab some popcorns and allow us to detail why this is important. We will tell you why it was such a masterstroke for the WWW campaign (WWW is a C.E.O remember!). How Kubende’s guile works well for the stiff, dare I say, less charming WWW, in the race for Bungoma governor.
Deep Dive: Get to Know Kubende ↗
Joseph Kubende Biography: Age, Career, Education, Wife, Family, Net Worth and More
Omubukusu Akhwima Biakhulia Lakini Sakhwima Elomo Ta!
A bukusu will deny you food but not a heart to heart.
Bukusu are a passionate people. The Bukusu take pride in themselves and those who can speak proper Bukusu without a twang. Joseph has given this to them and more. Joseph has mixed this rich Bukusu language with Bukusu songs from community legends like Wasike Wa Musungu.
What this does is that it harps on the familiar to unlock the hearts and eventually, hopefully, votes for WWW as Bungoma governor. All Bukusus adore Wasike wa Musungu’s music. It is Wasike who sang the “otamba otamba okheba….” tune in the sixties or fifties. Wasike remains a Bukusu cultural icon. It remains an all time greatest hit. Joseph knows this and gives it to the people during campaigns.
Kubende’s Cultural Nous
Bukusus love the euphoria that comes with the circumcision season. Lukembe takes even more prominence as we head deeper into the 21st century, as it seen as a way of preserving the bukusu culture. A hallmark if the festivities is composition of a simple sing along chorus bearing contemporary messages. The encrypted messages can vary from shaming the village gossip, castigating a murder or even feting a good person in the community.
Kubende’s creative genius saw him borrow from this tradition and compose a simple chorus, housed by the Wasike wa Musungu tune to shame incumbent Bungoma governor Kenneth Lusaka. Kubende’s method is so effective, allowing him to localize any message for the public in any corner of Bungoma county.
From the alleged plunder of Bungoma county government resources to tales of sexual impropriety (remember the behinds) and other kinds of sleaze spread during highly charged political campaigns in the realm of this race for Bungoma governor. But for all the gravitas that is sucked in from hyper-localizing a political message, the savageness of the Kubende methods lies elsewhere.
A Taste Of The Kubende Show
Now before WWW speaks, Joseph goes first. Joseph in his deep rustic boisterous voice first introduces himself. He bellows with authority! He then gives the people all evils and shortfalls of Ken Lusaka\’s regime. Before the Joseph Kubende show, team Triple W keen to preserve the gentlemanly, collected, professional image of their boss, sets the stage for Joseph to do the dirty work with everyday political rhetoric. And he does it well. In fact, he relishes it as his alter ego, Kubende Wa’Wekhomba, comes out to play.
Then, Kubende Wa\’Wekhomba gets to it and systematically undresses Kenneth.
He renders the incumbent useless and evil. With song and melodious rhetoric, he stirs anger-useful anger that any political campaign hinges on to nudge voters to forego all other activities on election day so as to vote. Case in point is that Kubende makes it known to the people any projects in the area that could have been done/failed to be done by the current regime.
Another favorite routine is when Kubende Wa’Wekhomba informs the people how money has been siphoned from public coffers in the name of bringing development to their respective sub counties. As we had alluded to earlier, this message is bespoke for the location. Finally, with the crowd charged, Kubende Wa Wekhomba delivers his signature fatality move. With this one move, the incumbent’s legacy is massacred. With this sweeping move, the incumbent is soiled in the eyes of the electorate.
Kubende’s Signature Move: The Solo Verse
In the call-response style of African folk songs, for every one of Kubende Wa’Wekhomba’s soloist calls, Kubende coaches the crowd to chant back. What the crowd is invariably required to answer back should rock to the core the Lusaka campaign:
” Lusaka omwene omubi aaaah…”
” Lusaka omwene omubi aaaah…”
Rinse. Repeat. To say Kubende Wa’Wekhomba charges the crowd is reductive. Even revisionist. Wa’Wekhomba like a skillful matador prepares calms the crowd for the main speech by bludgeoning through any resistance. Once Kubende’s cuts through clan affiliations, regional arithmetic – be it of Be Wa’Sudi and Be Wa’ Amtallah semantics- all preformed political persuasions are gone.
And the minds of the crowd are now tuned to the requisite frequencies for WWW’s message. Kubende now even asks the now obedient crowd to maintain pin drop silence when WWW is addressing them. As he exists the stage, you cannot help but wonder, to Joseph from yonder him of the surname Goebbels. This is how you do rhetoric without bigotry or advocating for social cleansing. Indulge:
Interesting reading, a true picture of Kubende.