The concept of Luhya unity was first mooted by celebrated politician Musa Amalemba in the 1950s, which means that the exercise, if we could refer to it as such, is approaching its seventh decade without much success. In those many years, rallies have been held, blueprints published, intriguing retreats done, and yet, the perennial desire for a unifying ideology for the Mulembe nation keeps returning a blank.
I have always wondered just how lethal a political block the community would be if it voted in one basket, like their Luo, Kalenjin and Kikuyu counterparts do every electoral cycle. But I am aware that the threat this would pose to other interests across the country is the reason it serves certain interests for the Mulembe people to remain divided into different political formations.
Perhaps the only time western Kenya came close to making a statement about a possible homogenous vote was in 2002, when, led by Wamalwa Kijana, the community joined the rest of Kenya in sending Kanu home and giving a massive mandate to President Mwai Kibaki. And they did this while rejecting a ruling party which at that time had one of their own as vice president, in the form of the then Sabatia MP Musalia Mudavadi. It has been a long way from that moment.
In recent months, that pursuit of unity has been brought back into sharp focus, following the emergence of a phenomenon known only as the “Tawe Movement”. “Tawe” is the Luhya word for “No”, and this so-called movement has positioned itself as a nascent force coming to the scene to initiate a leadership change in Western and to consequently retire the old guards. Needless to say, there have been many attempts at “removing the old order” in Luhyaland, which have mostly come a cropper, but this Tawe force seems like a different proposition.
When it first happened on the scene some time last year, it largely seemed like a rather personal crusade conducted by Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya against National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula. But the Tawe rallies appeared very well-oiled, well organised and properly mobilised. It was easy to question if all that was just the work of Natembeya, just like I wondered what really was the beef between the Trans Nzoia governor and the former Bungoma senator that would cause such a vicious affront by one on the other.
However, it has slowly grown into a convergence point for those who want, especially Wetang'ula and Prime Cabinet Secretary Mudavadi out of the scene for fresh blood. Just last week, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale was quoted in sections of the media as stating that he would join the Tawe movement to help push out the two most senior Luhya leaders into retirement.
Publicly at least, Natembeya accuses erstwhile Luhya leaders of accruing only individual benefits from their positions, rather than helping the community grow. A former uniformed officer, as regional commissioner, he has even gone further to loudly hint that the reason there has never been a three-star general (lieutenant general) from the Mulembe nation was that appointments above two-star required deep political networking, which ability was allegedly lacking in the people the community had staked their hopes on thus far. Well, the May appointment of Lt Gen John Omenda has at least changed this narrative.
Something else Natembeya says holds true. He avers that with six and eight MPs for Ford Kenya and Mudavadi’s ANC respectively, in the current Parliament, the two are basically running what, for all intents and purposes, briefcase political parties whose achievements are certainly not commensurate with the two powerful positions held by both Wetang'ula and Mudavadi. In other words, the two have become adept at milking the most while doing nothing much to grow a formidable enough political force in Western to challenge for the national stakes with their peers in the hinterland. It is difficult to disagree with this assessment.
In my view, political homogeneity is a largely a product of two fundamentally emotional factors. One, as with the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin, having previously “tasted” power, the desire to have it back creates the avenues for large scale mobilisation at the ballot.
And two, as with the Luo, decades of perceived betrayal, marginalisation and political assassinations generally lay the ground for a siege mentality that persuades a group of people to flock together to enhance their chances of survival, the reverse being the possibility of being “finished” separately. Unfortunately for the Mulembe nation, these dynamics are missing in their sociopolitical fabric.
Perhaps this is a good enough time to mention too that the disparate intra-tribal interests of the Luhya have been a hindrance towards their ability to hit the national scene as one unit. For instance, the two dominant sub tribes of the Luhya, Bukusu and Maragoli, hardly ever vote in the same direction.
Indeed, over the years, and especially during the one party Kanu rule, President Moi always propped up a Maragoli leader as a countermeasure to a Bukusu supremo. Which is how a Moses Mudavadi among the Maragoli would be a check against an Elijah Mwangale among the Bukusu. Effectively therefore, the silent supremacy wars took over the space that should have been occupied by actionable development plans for the community.
It is interesting to note this, but the ability to outgrow the tribe is often the shortest way to become a unifying community leader. Simply put, any politician from one tribe who has a great appeal among other tribes in the country easily becomes the leader of that community. Ever since the great Muliro, and to some extent Wamalwa, this personality with a cross-tribal appeal, enough to lay claim to the Luhya kingpin mantle, has been missing. Both Mudavadi and Wetang'ula, by the nature of their parties and the model of their politics, seem content to merely capture Vihiga and Bungoma counties, respectively.
But one cannot say that you can scan the landscape and fail to pick at least one Luhya leader who can be said to be walking in the footsteps of Masinde Muliro. I am referring to Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. Young, with a multi-tribal appeal and an urban political base that places him above the intra-ethnic political intrigues back home, I believe the ODM SG has in less than two years done enough to sow some hopes for proponents of Luhya unity looking for someone to become the guardian of that dream. Sifuna is not one to embrace raw ethnic politics, but is as Luhya as anyone could be, with the qualities that the old guard lack to unite a large voting block.
In Kenya’s political system, those who seek change, by demanding that the old guards leave the scene, often forget to show us the youth who would carry the renaissance in a new governance order. That is why I seek to be the bearer of the message to the Mulembe people that once done with this and that Tawe, there is no lack of new leadership that can move the aspirations of the community into a new era. But those who have already been around for decades doing the same thing repeatedly, won’t count when the trumpet of the new world order is blown!
Political commentator