Politics is war. Without the bullets, bombs and hopefully refugees. Nothing epitomized this better than the 2017 Kakamega Governor race. In the land that locals call Shifweye, Mudavadi had Michael Osundwa Sakwa to do a job on incumbent Oparanya. A poor pick it must be said. Moses Masika Wetangula had Khalwale on a similar brief. Now that\’s something! With this singular, signature move, Wetangula had two of his rivals for Mulembe supremacy on the back foot.
If there’s a bull to back as future Kakamega governor, then it has to be the embokho from Ikolomani. Still, even if he doesn’t get there, with Bonny Mtetezi, you never lose. The dividends are immediate. The vigor, life, eloquence and clarity of purpose that the bull fighter brings to a campaign is umatched.
It was calculating genius for Wetangula to have Khalwale in his corner. But being too calculating might also be a problem as we will come to see. Join us as we get behind the charming smile of the Bungoma senator, revealing how he\’s a master at scoring such political scoops.
Picture a Field Marshall
Lets start with a brave proclamation. All calculations, miscalculations, scheming and politics of kupangwa aimed at helping/scuttling Mulembe Nation’s climb to the top floor of Kenyan politics must factor in Weta. For all the work done by insider and outsiders, those who wish Mulembe Nation well and those that do not, for it all to fall into place, one man needs to be entirely game.
Not because he is a thief like Esau who stole his brother’s birthright. Not because he is the most appealing of all suitors and it will prove ruinous to the matrimony to bypass him. But because in the thick of political contest he sits where the Field Marshall sits in the military rank and profile.
A friend solider tells me that four Field Marshalls pack a punch as much as a battalion. These guys are totally badass! And so is Moses Masika Wetangula. When he promises you fire, prepare also for raging winds that serve the destructive ends of the inferno that\’s coming. Do not be fooled by the leanness of his attack. That\’s just a tip of the iceberg. He has got both brains and brawn at his beck and call.
Mastermind Group
Not so obvious who the rank and file of his brawn arm are, but the brains are fairly well known. Weta has some of Mulembe’s finest strategy minds to call on. Just like Raila can summon the brains of Senior Counsel Orengo, Professors Nyongo and Zani; Moses Masika Wetang`ula has: a Rtd Major General, several senior medical doctors, a Bukusu Elder, a brother who is a member of parliament several PhD guys et.al as part of his mastermind group.
All that notwithstanding, just like with Messi, both Ronaldos, Zinedine Zidane and as far back as Franz Anton Beckenbauer , a team is only as good as it serves the talents of the one individual. The one (wo)man part of the collective, who is truly gifted. The Ford Kenya leader epitomizes this maxim.
Moses Masika Wetangula Omubutu
This man, Moses Masika son of Wetangula, was born late in 1956. Moses must have been born after a death in the community/family thus the Masika name. Masika is a male Bukusu name given to male children born during/after a funeral. Masika therefore is enombela: The shoot that sprouts from a fallen tree.
Wetangula attended humble schools with the likes of Wekesa, Wafula ne\’ Wanyama. Nalondo Primary School, Busakala Secondary School, Teremi Secondary School (all in his home constituency: Kabuchai) and Friends School Kamusinga for his A Levels.
He then proceeded to the University of Nairobi where he studied Bachelor of Laws. Masika of the Omubutu clan enjoys dark colored suits accompanied with ties with a pop of color. Now the politician more than the lawyer, you are likely to find Masika in Khaki trousers matched with Nelson Mandela shirts, Kenya themed tailor made casual shirts or the Ford Kenya green and white shirt.
He stands at slightly more than 6feet.
The Man
Wetangula has a characteristic widows peak hairline. A teasing strip of hair runs right in the middle of his brow forming a sharp V. You know the one that we as kids we christened Kiherere? That one. The Kiherere lends a perfect heart shape face. Baby faced even. Always clean shaven, Moses is considered light skinned by Bukusu standards.
Let me tell you about Moses\’s smile. Far from what you see on TV, Wetangula is not a smiley face. He seldom smiles in real life. But when he does from his lips escapes that rare gem: a disarming smile, complete with a bewitching gap commonly referred to as embanya.
Hon. Wetangula has perfect command of all languages I know. He speaks Bukusu, impeccable English (Don’t we all love his press statements like this one dressing down WSR?) And if you want to know how good his Swahili is, tune in to live Senate proceedings where he occasionally breaks into the national language.
Like the lion, Kutalangi, that stars on his party’s symbol, when Wetangula speaks, it\’s a roar. The kind that reminds one of the singing of Oliver Mutukudzi or Brian Adams. The senate minority leader enjoys watching a good game of soccer over a bottle of Tusker and nyama choma. In this way, he is a typically Kenyan guy. He flourishes where deep conversations flow. The senator can comfortably, deeply discuss anything: dogs, farming, soccer, politics, economics, law you name it! He is at home with every subject, the consummate conversationalist.
Wetangula’s Temperament:
He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed. William James, the father of American Psychology, is credited with this saying, but it is this quote by the lesser prominent Wallace that exposit Moses Masika Wetangula’s temperament:
There’s a difference between an opportunist, and someone who seizes an opportunity. One selfishly harvests the fruits of another’s labor, the other strategically helps plant the seeds. The latter can be an asset, the former will always be a leech.
We’ll leave it here so that you can make your own conclusions on where the good senator falls if the saying applies at all.
Path to Power
Moses Wetangula was first nominated to parliament in 1992 by President Moi. For those like me who were still khutobotia kamatosi and eating Kamafunyo, this was around the time when Cyrus Jirongo and William Ruto were forming Y2K. Machiavellian Moi had chosen youth to stem the opposition’s onslaught on KANU’s rule with clamor for multiparty politics.
There were the outright youth wingers turned master political brokers Cyrus Jirongo and William Ruto in Y2K . Then there were the likes of Wetangula who followed in the footsteps of Kalonzo Musyoka and Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi. It is rumored that Wetangula benefited from the nomination slot meant to reward his father KANU stalwart, Councilor Dominic Wetangula. Wetangula senior is said to have requested the president to consider his son Moses instead.
Silver platter and all, testament to our earlier reference of him has Field Marshall, Wetangula picked up from these scraps. He has been in Kenya’s legislative arm of government for close to 30 years. He represented Sirisia constituency from 2002 to 2013. In 2013, he joined the senate as the inaugural leader of minority on a CORD ticket.
Wetangula The Master Strategist
Save for his failed bid in 1997, Wetangula has never been in the cold thanks to his acumen in cold calculation. Take the legend that while serving as the Sirisia legislator, a chunk of his constituency – Chwele to Mt Elgon areas – were in fervent opposition to his rule as they felt isolated and neglected.
The people of this end of Sirisia fronted Major John Waluke to challenge Wetangula. Needless to say, that there is no love lost between the current Sirisia legislator and Hon. Wetang`ula. When opportunity presented itself in the name of the Andrew Ligale led IIEBC, constituency boundary review, Hon.Wetangula welcomed the idea to hive off Kabuchai (his strongholds) from Sirisia.
After the demise of doyen Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Ford Kenya had three strong candidates for its leadership: Moses Wetangula, Musikari Kombo and Mukhisa Kituyi. Musikari Kombo took forte shortly before it got too hot and he decamped to New Ford Kenya. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi shortly thereafter, followed Kombo to New Ford Kenya, had a go at Wetangula challenging him for Senator in a bruising battle, before exiling to the lucrative post of UNCTAD sec. general.
Alliances
The intrigues behind this speedy shift in allegiances is one these three gentlemen should one day tell. But it must have been too hot in there for anyone save Weta. I am not accusing him of starting the fire, but Moses Wetangula was the last man standing. A decade, thereabouts, after been nominated by the last ruling party to parliament, Wetangula was/is now firmly in control of a respected brand in Kenya’s opposition struggle.
Wetangula took over Ford Kenya leadership with gusto exhibiting his knack for alliances of convenience. NARC in 2002 which yielded the foreign affairs minister position allowing him the platform to build and deepen multilateral relationships necessary for ascending to the presidency. CORD in 2012 which made him Senate minority leader and built his credentials as a national leader and and people’s champion. And now NASA in 2017 as proposed Deputy Chief Minister. Not forgetting \’smaller\’ plays like the Khalwale job on Oparanya and Mudavadi.
Okhwa Pilato
Behind every great fortune is a great crime. In keeping with this, Wetangula the politician is a bully. He is shrewd. Brutal. In hushed tones, he is not so dotingly known as Okhwa Pilato. Lethal. Calculating. Conniving. His key strength is his ability to have his campaign machinery on idling mode. Besides, few dare betray him. Because anyone who has engaged him in political battle is left licking his wounds years later.
When Weta perceives one to be a threat, ‘with his two hands’ the Ford Kenya party leader ensures that the enemy is buried in a political grave w. Opponents therefore dare not give him the hammer, spade and jembe for obvious reasons.
The reign of Moses has not been without controversies. Wetangula has been adversely mentioned in the Tokyo embassy scandal where the Kenyan taxpayer is said to have lost approximately Ksh 1.6 Billion. His 2012 senatorial election win was contested. In a petition filed by Musikari Kombo, it was alleged that Wetangula bribed voters. The election result was nullified. However, Hon. Wetangula, is a man of nine lives, he recaptured the seat with a landslide in a by election.
Bull of Mukhweya
The controversy does not end there. Like many a Kenyan politician, Weta has his fair share of sexual and marital scandals. Many great men have fallen over such, but in the phallophoric Bukusu culture, these scandals have earned Weta political mileage instead. In one instance, when there was hullabaloo over an alleged affair with a female nominated MCA. True to form, most Bukusu dismissed the whole with the saying : Eunwa efwichanga ne lunyasi mukhunwa. A bull dies with grass in his mouth.
The Man, the Legend
Moses Masika Wetangula has never campaigned for more than three months. First, is the Ford Kenya party leader. He is in charge. He knows when and whom to send to where. Or rather, like in the viral Chuck Norris internet memes, his troops send themselves with his message. Campaign posters also print themselves, climb up electricity poles and up the walls of mukongo kwe embwa shops and plaster themselves on. And when he hits the ground, during campaign no village is too deep for Wetangula to enter. No hut too smokey for his bespectacled, heart-shaped face.
It is believed that a good chunk of Bukusu elites who hold plum positions in the country do so courtesy of his lobbying. Yet he still divides opinion in manner second only to his co principal Raila Odinga. People who love him do it with a passion that borders on blind sycophancy. On the other hand, those that hate him don\’t even wish to see his face nor hear his voice.
Weta The Cultural Icon
The Bukusu have a way of appreciating their own by naming and composing songs of praise. Countless males sons have been called after him. Songs have been composed in his honor. One such song done by Steve K : Soreri wefwe Wetangula kola: our boy Wetangula has arrived. Steve K tells us how Kakamega, Busia, Women, Men, Trans Nzoia….. everyone is excited to welcome Wetangula. Ladies and gentlemen, let`s rise from our seats, everybody kamabeka, time to shake a leg. Indulge!