When former Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama, now senator-elect of Machakos County hosted Prime Minister Raila Odinga in his Tala backyard last year, little did people know that the rare political spectacle would give birth to today’s Cord coalition.
And five months down the line, the Kamba nation is undeniably performing a candid postmortem, as many, speaking in undertones are now regretting being bundled into a quickly crafted political coalition in the so-called Tala declaration of October 2012.
It was about this time when Mr Muthama, in a rare and widely unexpected political scenario hosted Mr Odinga for lunch at his Tala home, before proceeding to address a joint political rally at the local market.
At the rally, hundreds of residents chatted in hushed tones and waited pensively for what was definitely going to be a major political statement.
Political re-union
Incidentally, that happened to be the time when then Wiper Party presidential aspirant, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka was having a rocky political relationship with URP’s William Ruto and the President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta of The National Alliance (TNA).
When he finally took to the podium, Mr Muthama declared that he would push for a political re-union between Mr Kalonzo and Mr Odinga for he believed it is only the two leaders who held the key to a united Kenya.
He proceeded to say that the presidency of this country is not a preserve of the large communities, but for all deserving Kenyans.
At that point, Mr Muthama declared an end to further negotiations between the VP and Mr Kenyatta team and so the Tala Declaration was born.
However, credible sources say the Raila-Kalonzo political pact may have been sealed much earlier and that the Tala rally was just a platform for making the public pronouncement.
Mockery
Indeed, about two weeks prior to the Tala rally, the VP in a tour of Kangundo had hinted at a major political shift as the presidential campaigns heightened. It is believed that Mr Kalonzo had already sealed the deal with Mr Odinga and by making such a comment, he was psychologically preparing the minds of his Ukambani political stronghold.
Mr Muthama explained the main reason for pushing for VP’s exit from the Uhuru-Ruto camp was due to the latter’s alleged mockery of the VP’s purported inability to raise substantial numbers to warrant him a substantial stake in power sharing should they win the General Election.
Interestingly, by that time Mr Kalonzo’s political arch-rival Water minister Charity Ngilu was warming up for a possible political arrangement with the Jubilee camp who were at the time interested in tapping substantial votes from the lower Eastern region.
The elections came and went and now the Kamba nation are staring at the prospects of being left out in the cold something they are not taking kindly.
Former Kangundo MP Moffat Maitha, who lost in the race for the Matungulu parliamentary seat said it is sad that the Kamba community is at the brink of being left out in the cold in the next government.
“It is unfortunate that Muthama misled Kalonzo to enter into a coalition with Raila for his (Muthama) personal benefit. Kalonzo should realise where he went wrong and seek a re-union with Uhuru for the sake of the community,” Mr Maitha told The County Weekly on phone.
Personal gain
Mr Maitha’s sentiments were echoed by Tala-based veteran businessman Mkulima Muya, who claims Mr Muthama mislead the community for his personal gain.
“Today Kambas are regretting since they are not used to being out of the Government. But it’s all the fault of Mr Muthama who duped Mr Kalonzo into working with the PM. We are urging Kalonzo to rethink his position and consider working with Mr Kenyatta.”
Former Masinga MP Itwiku Mbai, who is set to bounce back to parliament after winning a titanic battle for the seat but on a Ford-People party ticket, also accused the former Kangundo legislator of messing the politics of the region.
“Mr Muthama messed up the entire region’s politics the moment he embarked on a scheme to plant his cronies in designated constituencies and got them nominated during the Wiper party primaries. In fact he is squarely responsible for the mess in the Wiper party today,” said Mr Mbai.
He however steered clear of commenting on the allegations that Muthama misled the Kamba community, but revealed that parliamentary candidates who were allegedly rigged out in the Wiper nominations but managed to win back their seats will soon convene a press briefing to state their stand.
Source:standardmedia.co.ke
