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*.
Odinga can not make luyas like voting machines, we’ve our interests mus we support you ooo no
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