- Atwoli says Raila is his relatives and visits him every Boxing day with family.
- Atwoli said that Khalwale’s assertions should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve.
Image: FILE
Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli has dismissed his critics, saying he has a right to host ODM party leader Raila Odinga.
Atwoli hosted Raila at his home on December 26, a move that has attracted strong criticism from former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale.
Khalwale claimed Atwoli does not have the interests of the Luhya community at heart and was a chief Raila agent. Atwoli has been rooting for Luhya unity, but Khalwale said the unionist was furthering Raila's interests.
But Atwoli has defended himself, saying there was nothing wrong with hosting Raila. “You know that he (Raila) is my relative and he visits me every Boxing Day when he brings around his family. We don’t discuss politics during such meetings,” Atwoli said.
The Cotu boss hosted Raila and his family with Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, Senator Cleophas Malala and Woman Representative Elsie Muhanda also attending.
Khalwale said any meeting convened by Atwoli cannot be for the community as people who attend such gatherings are either ODM members or Raila sympathisers.
“We want to warn Atwoli that whereas in the first instance he succeeded to lie to our community that he had the powers to anoint a leader which he did when he named Musalia Mudavadi as community spokesman, we know that he now wants to anoint Oparanya to keep on giving Raila a foothold in the community. He has shortchanged Luhyas for decades,” Khalwale said.
But Atwoli said that Khalwale’s assertions should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. He said the former senator doesn’t speak for the community and was in pursuit of personal interests from Deputy President William Ruto.
Addressing the press after the meeting at Atwoli’s residence, Oparanya said all Luhya leaders will meet at Bukhungu Stadium on January 18 to chart the political way forward for the community.
“Khalwale is now playing off the touchline and that cannot be called football. I am not in Jubilee, ODM, ANC, Ford Kenya or Wiper. I am ready to host President Uhuru Kenyatta, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and even William Ruto but that does not mean that if Ruto visits me, I support his presidential bid. He can come to look for market for chicken which he auctions,” Atwoli said.
Khalwale said the planned meeting at Bukhungu Stadium will not be a Luhya forum but n ODM affair. “We cannot allow outsiders to come and tell us how we should govern ourselves,” Khalwale said.
edited by peter obuya