Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani has dared ODM leaders Raila Odinga and Hassan Joho to set foot in his constituency.
“Let them come and hold a successful rally if they are men enough, the tough-talking legislator said on Wednesday.
Mwashetani was reacting to an incident where he was heckled during the burial of Kwale Senator Juma Boy in Vanga on Monday.
During speeches after the burial, Raila taunted Mwashetani and Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya for joining Jubilee ostensibly to bring development to the people of Kwale.
Raila asked residents to hold their political leaders to account and put them on the spot over development in the area.
“They (Jubilee) said they will bring laptops. It is now four years but they have not been seen. Ask Mwashetani,” Raila said on Monday.
But the MP said he was not booed by locals, adding that the hecklers were intoxicated youths ferried from other regions by opposition leaders.
“I addressed the gathering after which I conveyed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s condolence message. After that is when those who were ferried started making noise,” said Mwashetani.
In what seems to be a gloves-off statement of intent, Mwashetani vowed to ensure he is well prepared for future political battles in Kwale.
“My expectations were not for the function to be politicised. Otherwise, if I knew the function would be politicised, then I would have prepared myself,” Mwashetani said.
“If they can come with goons I can also organise my goons. And I’m ready. I dare them. I’m telling you, that is the last rally they will do peacefully in Kwale,” said Mwashetani.
Mwashetani and Joho were close allies before they broke ranks about two years ago.
Mwashetani, who was elected on a Ford Kenya ticket, has since ditched Cord for Uhuru’s Jubilee Party, becoming one of the President’s foot soldiers in Kwale.
When contacted on Thursday, Mombasa county director of communication Richard Chacha and Joho’s spokesperson said the Governor will not comment on the matter.
Mwashetani said Raila will need the votes of Lunga Lunga residents if he wants to become Kenya’s next president.
“Ninety per cent of the crowd at Vanga during Boy’s burial were outsiders ferried for the occasion,” he insisted.
“Vanga is a small town of hardly 2,500 people. You can’t tell me the crowd there was made of locals. It is impossible,” said Mwashetani.
Lunga Lunga and Kwale county is no longer a Cord zone, he noted, insisting it has turned into a Jubilee zone.
After August 8, Mwashetani said, Kwale’s Governor, Senator, Woman Representative, and Kinango and Lunga Lunga MPs will all be from Jubilee.
He said Joho and his ODM cohorts were on a revenge mission after they were unable to address Lunga Lunga residents the last time they were in the area because they were heckled.
“That is why this time they came well prepared. Their preparedness was to target Mwashetani and Mvurya. But I was only mourning,” Mwashetani said.
He said it was inappropriate and against Islamic regulations to politicise the burial of a Muslim, let alone a Muslim leader.
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