Khalwale bullish after victory

By JULIUS SIGEI juliussigei@gmail.com
Posted  Saturday, May 28 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

• He began rattling the mighty while at the University of Nairobi, and he says the best is yet to come as he warns the corrupt to be afraid, very afraid

On August 1, 1982, five university students stormed the offices of the Voice of Kenya (now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) and announced they supported the attempted coup against the government of President Daniel arap Moi.

Of the five, who included Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto, former Gatanga MP David Murathe and former Rangwe MP Shem Ochuodho, 22-year-old Boni ‘Shindi Shunde’ Khalwale, now MP for Ikolomani, was charged with the belling of the cat (making the dreaded announcement), and he did not disappoint.

The coup leaders, who included Captain Hezekiah Ochuka, were taken aback by the dare-devilry of the young man. This act, hardly imaginable for one just out of high school, earned him a one-and-a-half year suspension from campus.

But it also marked the birth of a political operative who would, two decades later, romp to Parliament in his first attempt.

Dr Khalwale has since captured the imagination of the nation, perhaps more so than any other MP in the 10th Parliament, by fearlessly fighting corruption.

“I always act on my conscience, and I won’t hesitate to put my life on the line again if need be,” he told the Sunday Nation last Wednesday from Kakamega where echoes of isukuti drum-beating celebrants could be heard in the background.

“I don’t regret what we did because after the man we were trying to remove left State House in 2002, the economy–which had slumped to negative 1.8 per cent–rose to a high of seven per cent only five years later,” said the MP.

The 51-year-old gynaecologist is popularly referred to as a bullfighter because of his enthusiasm for the traditional sport.

A man who is known to literally take dangerous bulls by the horns, Dr Khalwale has turned his watchdog role as chairman of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee into an art, with ministers dreading the moment they could appear before it.

He is best remembered for hounding former minister Amos Kimunya from the Finance docket in 2008 over the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.

“To stop corruption at the Treasury, Kimunya must go; to repossess the Grand Regency Hotel, Kimunya must go; to assure members of the public who were misdirected into buying Safaricom shares without adequate information, Kimunya must go,” boomed the eloquent bespectacled father of seven.

Then in February 2009, he was at it again, this time taking to task the then Agriculture minister, William Ruto over the maize scandal in which the country is said to have lost Sh800 million to briefcase millers and unscrupulous businessmen.

Before he left Parliament in February, Dr Khalwale had taken on current Agriculture minister Sally Kosgei. He bragged that he would teach her a lesson in “real politics” after she boycotted a function at Butali Sugar Company. This threat never materialised after Justice Isaac Lenaola ruled that Dr Khalwale’s election in 2007 was irregular.

However, he emerged victorious in last Monday’s by-election after defeating ODM’s Benard Shinali by 2,500 votes.

“Ministers who have fallen short of glory should be wary because we shall start sweeping from where we left off,” he warned, adding that his other priority would be to cushion wananchi from skyrocketing food and fuel prices. He said he would also push for implementation of the Constitution.

“Raila should not hold the country to ransom by insisting his party MPs should head certain committees,” he said, alluding to the stalemate in the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.

He claimed that former Vice-President Michael Kijana Wamalwa died fighting Mr Odinga and that “his orphans” would carry on the big fight.

Dr Khalwale’s life is a study in contrasts. Despite being one of the most brilliant and eloquent debaters in Parliament, he blends in naturally with the villagers of Ikolomani.

On the one hand, he is the national figure who attracted campaigners from all over Kenya, while, on the other, he is a traditional Luhya elder who is well-versed in his people’s customs.

On how he manages this, he says that he applies community diagnosis as taught in medical school. “I studied my community and diagnosed that it loved three things: song and dance, traditional drink and bullfighting.

Incidentally, none of these things is offensive to me so they come out naturally,” says the MP who does not live in Nairobi, “but sleeps there only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays when there is parliamentary work’’.

Prof Egara Kabaji of Masinde Muliro University says: “Dr Khalwale is a very interesting person. Despite his education, he feels very much at home mingling with his constituents. The kind of discourse he engages in and his actions resonate with the ordinary villager,” Prof Kabaji said.

He said the MP has a strange slogan, which nevertheless draws votes for him.

“If you go to Ikolomani and say lulala nidwo lwene (one good go at a woman is enough), everybody will understand that you are talking about the MP,” said Prof Kabaji.

Feminists might find this offensive, but when asked, the MP–whose branch of medicine is women’s reproductive health–was unapologetic

“When you are campaigning, especially among women and you don’t ‘sex up’ your speeches, you don’t go far,” he said, laughing uproariously.

“You saw women throwing their lessos at me during the campaigns. It is the highest honour a married woman can give a man. It means they are even ready to strip and curse your enemy, if need be,” he said, adding that he had done a lot for Ikolomani, and it is the women who know because they bear the brunt of underdevelopment.

“He has branded his constituency as the home of bull fighting,” said Prof Kabaji, adding that, this way, he has captured the critical 18-35 group of voters.

Perhaps nothing illustrates the seriousness with which Dr Khalwale has taken the popular sport than the fact that he is one of the few elders in the community who are charged with performing shilembe, a ritual involving bull fighting which is carried out at the grave of a fallen hero.

Ordinarily, such cultural rites are performed by traditional elders educated only in folklore and belonging to a generation gone by. But Dr Khalwale is at home with such rituals.

“So long as you are above 45, you qualify. You saw us do it during the burial of Kijana Wamalwa and the former MP for Shinyalu, Lilechi Lugano,” the MP says with pride.

The MP is said to have several wives, and this is what he said regarding the matter: “Suffice it to say I am proud of my culture, which allows me to marry more than one wife.”

Dr Khalwale cut his political teeth as the Western Province co-ordinator for the National Convention Executive Council and Mageuzi, the opposition outfits that pushed for reforms in the Moi era.

When police abruptly disrupted their rally in Busia Dr Khalwale, current Lands minister James Orengo and Dr Mukhisa Kituyi (former Trade minister), having left their vehicles behind, walked 20 kilometres through the bush before a good Samaritan gave them a lift to Kisumu.

As his nickname ‘‘Shindi Shunde’’ suggests, the MP is an enigmatic character.

“As a man who was born to a peasant family, my allegiance is always to the common man. Don’t forget that my mother made and sold chang’aa and my father sold sugar cane at the market,” he said.

But he does have his detractors. Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba claims Dr Khalwale is a vicious political gun for hire.

“He is not affiliated to any group, which makes him ideal for hire,” he says.

Prof Chris Wanjala of the University of Nairobi says Dr Khalwale should move beyond the cultural connection with his people to their economic empowerment.

At the height of the clamour to have MPs’ salaries taxed, he was quoted as saying that taxing legislators would leave them as poor as the constituents they represent. But he insists that he was not against taxing of MPs’ salaries.

“I only called for a constitutional amendment that would oblige all MPs to pay taxes without appealing to their philanthropic nature,” he said.

Constituents Caroline Muhonje and Fatuma Makokha, however, defended their MP, saying he had done a lot in helping widows and orphans

“Even though people say it is the youth who voted him back, women played a key role,” said Ms Muhonje from Shirembe.

On how he recaptured the seat against ODM’s onslaught, Dr Khalwale of new Ford Kenya said it was a result of sheer hard work.

“By the time the campaigns closed on May 21, I had done 270 rallies targeting only 35,000 voters, which means I had almost reached everyone,” said the politician, who comes from the Bamusali clan which, he claims, is a clan of warriors.

The MP lists his hobbies as watching bull fighting, soccer and boxing while his favourite food is ugali, beef and mrenda, a popular traditional vegetable among his people.

Born in 1960, Dr Khalwale is the last born in a family of seven sons. He joined Malinya primary school in 1967, then Musingu secondary 1975 to 1978 and Kakamega High 1979 and 1980,for his ‘A’ levels.

In 1982, he joined the University of Nairobi where he headed the Medical Students Association. In 2002, he was elected to Parliament on a Narc ticket after flooring former trade unionist Joseph Mugalla.