Is Eugene a man worth waiting for?

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara and Billy Muiruri
Posted  Saturday, April 2 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

• Despite being described as a ‘poor clone of his brother’ who is yet to engage with the youth, he’s found a way into the Ruto-Uhuru axis

On the morning of March 26, last Saturday, two helicopters were about to fly out of Nairobi’s Wilson Airport.

One was to ferry Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to a series of rallies in Meru, a key vote-hunting ground in the Mt Kenya region. The second was to fly Eldoret North MP William Ruto to the same place.

Mr Kenyatta took off, but when Mr Ruto’s turn came, he said he would wait “for someone who would be flying in any time”.

The ODM man, who has fallen out with his party leader Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was waiting for Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa, a new-found ally.

The Saboti MP, who has been struggling to find his footing in national politics, has wormed his way into the political circle around Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, which is largely defined by its fierce opposition to Mr Odinga.

Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta are among individuals the International Criminal Court has summoned over the 2008 post-election violence. There are fears that if the ICC confirms charges against the two politicians who wield considerable influence over the Kalenjin and Kikuyu voting blocs, they might be locked out of the 2012 election.

And with his foray into the Ruto-Uhuru camp, Mr Wamalwa has eclipsed Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka whose diplomatic campaign to postpone the ICC cases is seen as calculated to seduce the two voting blocs if the two are charged.

However, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have made it clear that if one of them will not be president in 2012, they will be kingmakers.

And they have not hidden the fact that they are intent on stopping Mr Odinga from attaining power after President Kibaki leaves State House.

The two have attended political meetings in Western and Central Kenya with Mr Wamalwa, raising questions over whether the youthful Saboti MP could be their fallback candidate.

The 41-year-old Mr Wamalwa, who has launched his State House campaign, has addressed rallies in Bungoma, Nairobi and Mombasa.

His rallying cry has been the push for what he calls “generational change”.

Speaking to the Sunday Nation, Mr Wamalwa said leaders who have dominated Kenya’s political scene should create space for new players with new ideas to make their contribution.

He said the Independence Generation, including founding President Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, delivered the First Republic.

The second group of “Young Turks”, including Odinga, Kiraitu Murungi, James Orengo, Gitobu Imanyara and Bishop Timothy Njoya, midwifed delivery of the Second Republic after the passing of a new Constitution last year.

Mr Wamalwa argues that with the birth of the Second Republic, the Odinga group had done their part.

“The moral and institutional rebirth in the new Constitution should now be driven by a different generation.”

Since he started his campaign, Mr Wamalwa has associated himself with Simama Kenya, an outfit linked to President Kibaki’s son, Jimmy, Mungiki founder Maina Njenga, and outgoing US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger.

Dramatic jump

Two weeks ago the Saboti MP made a dramatic jump from Ford-Kenya — the party once led by his brother, the late VP  Kijana Wamalwa — to the New Ford-Kenya of Housing minister Soita Shitanda.

Mr Wamwalwa, a lawyer, speaks with confidence about his prospects, but his critics paint him as a lone ranger and naïve political featherweight unable to escape his famous brother’s shadow.

Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya, assistant minister Alfred Khangati and literary scholar Chris Wanjala depict Mr Wamalwa as a man whose aspirations are out of tune with the reality of his political standing.

“His is a lone ranger business. He has been loitering all over the place. He has not sat down with Luhya leaders to tell us what he is up to. The Ocampo suspects have cheated him into an alliance, the purpose of which he doesn’t understand,” said Mr Oparanya, an ally of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, the most senior Luhya politician in government.

The minister reads Mr Wamalwa’s links with the Ruto-Uhuru axis as an attempt by the two to divide the Luhya vote. Today, the Luhya constitute the largest voting bloc behind Mr Odinga.

“His is a lonely walk. He is a terribly naïve young man who has unfortunately made himself available for use or misuse by the Ocampo suspects,” said Prof Wanjala, who described Mr Wamalwa as a “project” of the ICC suspects. 

“A good politician crystallises his ideology around the dreams and aspirations of his people. His mission does not resonate with his people.”

Last year, former Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale curtly summarised Wamalwa’s campaign thus:  “He is a politician struggling to discover himself. Within four months, he has sought links with four different groups.”

Brother’s crest

Anthony Kibagendi of the Vijana Progressive Alliance party accuses Mr Wamalwa of “riding” on the crest of his brother’s popularity.

“He doesn’t represent the youth. What is his record?  You can’t be knighted from oblivion. He is misguided that he can pull an Obama in Kenya,” said the Vipa chairman, in reference to US President Barack Obama’s meteoric rise from relative obscurity to the White House.

“The youth of this country desire national harmony, peace and advocate democracy, the rule of law and justice for victims of the 2008 atrocities. I am afraid that Mr Wamalwa’s political friends are singing a different tune,” said Mr Kibagendi.

“His alliances are not healthy for the nation,” said Mr Khangati.

Those close to the MP, who is commonly referred to simply as Eugene, say that his presidential campaign is grounded on the strong belief that President Kibaki owes the Wamalwas gratitude for supporting his presidential bid in 2002.

He claims that in a 2002 pre-election MoU, Mr Kibaki promised to serve one term and support Kijana in 2007.

“My brother was to take over from President Kibaki after five years. That’s a fact. People like Cabinet minister Charity Ngilu, Musikari Kombo, Njenga Karume and Dr Noah Wekesa were there (when the commitment was made). However, the issues and the people involved at that time were different. My agenda is also different, and the times are different,” he told the Sunday Nation.

None of the leaders he mentioned have come out to back his claim.

Charismatic

The senior Wamalwa, the charismatic, urbane, Queen’s English-speaking VP who died in August 2003, was admired for his generosity, refreshing candour and spirit of compromise that saw him step down for Mr Kibaki ahead of the 2002 presidential race.

Mike, as his admirers called him, was celebrated as a stabilising force in President Kibaki’s early months in power when he was entangled in a fight with Mr Odinga over a pre-election power deal.

President Kibaki described Michael as “a patriot and gentleman”.

But Prof Wanjala describes Eugene as a “ poor clone of his brother”.

“He seems to have taken after his father, who was a colonial chief.”

Prof Wanjala says that unlike Eugene, the late VP was a good pupil of Masinde Muliro, and was regarded as one of the greatest Luhya leaders.

But Prof Bonaventure Kerre of the Kenya Methodist University believes that Mr Wamalwa’s heritage might work for him.

“He comes from a family of rulers. His father was a great leader and came from Kamukuywa in Kimilili which has produced great Luhya leaders such as Elijah Masinde. Even Masinde Muliro was born in Matili, about three kilometres away,” he says.

But after a poorly attended rally in Mombasa, a disappointed Maina Njenga, the erstwhile Mungiki leader, gave a most expected but candid appraisal of his friend’s political standing as “unpopular with the youth and it would take him a long time to sell himself to the masses”.

“He is still young in politics. He needs to do a lot even as we throw our weight behind him,” said Mr Njenga. 

Two weeks ago, Mr Wamalwa finally answered the questions that have been raised about his marital status. At a rally in Bungoma, Mr Wamalwa “unveiled” his wife, Lucy Musundi, to the public. The couple have 10 adopted children, but none of their own.