The Luhya community is now in a

major political quagmire and it is

important that the truth be told so

that viable solutions can be found. I

think the major political obstacle in

Luhyaland now is Odingaism. This

political philosophy has now been

acquired through assimilation from

Luo Nyanza. I personally believe that

Luhyas will not make political and

even economic progress if they

continue believing in this unfortunate

philosophy. My thinking is based on

the following facts.

1. In 1997 when Michael Wamalwa

Kijana was making major political

strides in Ford Kenya with the famous

grand march to state house, the man

who spoiled for the  late Michael kijana Wamalwa was Raila

Odinga. He defected from Ford Kenya

with his entire Luo MPs to join NDP

and used it to negotiate with Kanu in

the infamous co-operation.

2. During the 2002 elections, Raila

sponsored several candidates in his

LDP party to counter Kijana Wamalwa.

Most of his candidates lost elections

but he managed to have 4 elected

MPs on LDP i.e. Andrew Ligale

(Vihiga), Kenneth Marende (Emuhaya),

George Khaniri (Hamisi) and Moody

Awori (Funyula). This was done

intentionally to fight Ford Kenya and

Kijana Wamalwa.

3. After the death of Wamalwa, Raila

fought off any attempts to unite

Luhyas under Ford Kenya by using

Moody Awori to strengthen LDP party.

He then convinced Musalia Mudavadi

to defect from KANU to LDP with the

intention of fighting Ford Kenya.

4. When he was the minister of Roads

in the NARC government, no single

road was constructed in western. He

made several unfulfiled promises e.g.

Webuye-Kitale road, Kisumu-Kakamega

. During his tenure, many road

projects were constructed in Luo

Nyanza.

5. In the coalition government after

disputed 2007 elections, the luhyas

never got their share of mkate nusu.

The appointment to key parastatals

and ambassadorial positions were the

preserve of luos. Despite having

received at least 70% of Luhya vote in

2007, he never used his powers to

empower Luhyas to get key jobs in

government. The only positions that

Raila can claim he gave Luhya are 3

cabinet seats. In the coalition govt,

the ODM ministers were powerless as

Raila and his cronies micromanaged

their ministries.

6. During the tenure of colaition

government, Pan Paper factory totally

collapsed in the hands of ODM

because the ministry of industrializati

on was under ODM. Similarly, the

efficiency monitoring unit that

oversees the performance of

parastatals was under Prime

Minister’s office. Raila responded to

the cries of Bungoma people by

making 5 empty promises that the

factory will be re-opened in 1 week.

7. Raila made Luhyas believe that

their leader was Musalia Mudavadi

only as long as it suited Raila and

provided him with a political entry in

Western as he secretly established

his independent network in the

region. When Mudavadi became brave

and challenge Raila for ODM

presidential ticket, Raila cronies led

by Orengo inserted a clause in the

ODM constitution to bar him from

opposing Raila. You remember the

draconian clause that says, the party

leader is the automatic presidential

candidate.

8. When Mudavadi defected from

ODM he was branded a state house

project to make him look very

undesirable to kenyans and down

play his defection from ODM. ODM

used massive resources to campaign

in western and their campaigns were

based on propaganda. To divide

Luhyas, Raila used Gumo, Noah

Wekesa, Oparanya, Wetangula,

Marende, Jirongo, Ababu to dissuade

them from joining Mudavadi. I

remember Mudavadi had met all

Luhya MPs and they all agreed to

form a new political party only for

some of them to be compromised by

Raila.

9. Realising that he lost the elections

and he may not maintain his support

in western, he is now using leaders

like Wetangula as puppets to sustain

his grip on the Luhyas. Through

CORD they have been trying to make

Luhyas hostile to the government.

The question is, for how long will

luhyas be hostile to the government

when they don’t even have political

stake in the opposition?

10. Our key economic pillar, Mumias

Sugar is now on the death bed

courtesy of Evans Kidero. Massive

amount of money were looted from

Mumias to support ODM campaigns.

The aftermath of this looting is the

current problems facing Mumias

Sugar.

I wish leaders like Wetangula will

learn from the above and offer proper

leadership devoid of Railaism/

Odingaism.

Let those who have eyes see, let

those who have ears hear, for the

truth will come out and will set us

free from *Odingaism*.