Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary-General Francis Atwoli on Friday said he had dropped Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi as the Luhya community spokesman after he skipped the ‘swearing in’ of Raila Odinga as the people’s president on Tuesday.
Mr Atwoli said he would never support Mr Mudavadi who is also the National Super Alliance co-principal “because he abandoned Odinga in his hour of need”.
“I want to register my disappointment and displeasure with Mudavadi. At no time will I ever support him,” Mr Atwoli said.
Addressing mourners at the burial of human rights activist Ken Wafula in Likuyani Constituency, Kakamega, Mr Atwoli asked the Luhya “to forgive me after I endorsed Mudavadi as the community spokesman in December 2016”.
“A person who aspires to be president should not be afraid of anything. We expected him to rally behind Odinga but he chickened out,” he said.
“If Mudavadi knew that he was going to skip the event, he should have said so early instead of going into hiding on Tuesday.”
He insisted that there was need for Luhya unity ahead of the 2022 elections.
“We should no longer be misused or used as voting machines,” the trade unionist said.
At the same funeral, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula — another Nasa principal — differed with Mr Atwoli, saying he and Mr Mudavadi were fully behind Mr Odinga.
He termed the decision to skip the event “tactical”.
“We are going to swear in Kalonzo Musyoka soon. We are not fools. Our mission is to liberate Kenya,” the Senate Minority Leader said.
-nation.co.ke
