IKOLOMANI MP Boni Khalwale has dismissed the Luhya Elders' Forum members as political merchants pursuing personal gains. The elders have been using the council for selfish gains for a long time and it is time they are told to stop misleading residents of Western Kenya,'' he said yesterday.
Khalwale said the elders are not elected to represent anyone and their sentiments should be ignored. The MP was reacting to reports attributed to forum's vice chairman, Burudi Nabwera, that United Democratic Forum presidential aspirant Musalia Mudavadi ignored the elders' advice not to leave ODM.
“Nabwera and his compatriots in the Luhya Elders' Forum are not elected leaders and speak for nobody. They are fond of hopping from offices of one presidential candidate to the other during election times for personal benefits,” said Khalwale.
“Kenyans in general and Luhyas in particular should not pay attention to what the elders are saying about the leadership of the region,” he added.
Khalwale said UDF members had taken a multi-ethnic approach to the presidency and have avoided confining themselves into a certain region.
But the council yesterday disowned Nabwera's statement, terming the sentiments strange, adding that they are Nabwera's personal views.
“At no time have elders from Western considered or endorsed the offensive claims made by Nabwera regarding the suitability of the Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi to run for the highest office in the land,”they said in a statement signed by chairman Patrick Chaka, secretary Japheth Barua and organising secretary Elam Lunmwaji.
Yesterday, Khalwale said that the elders had abandoned their role of unifying the community and instead engaged in trade off with politicians.
“The unity talks Francis Atwoli is now initiating ought to have been done by the elders but they did not because they were benefiting from the division among leaders from the province,” he said.