Mudavadi departure from ODM divides lawmakers’ loyalty

The departure of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi from the ODM has sharply divided the loyalty of the party’s lawmakers in Western Province.

However, Mr Mudavadi, who joined the United Democratic Front (UDF), appears to have attracted MPs from other parties in the region as he embarks on the journey to popularise his presidential ambitions. (READ: Mudavadi resigns as minister, joins UDF)

Interviews with the MPs in the region on Friday showed that Prime Minister Raila Odinga had Cabinet ministers Wycliffe Oparanya and Paul Otuoma; assistant ministers Sospeter Ojaamong and Alfred Khangati; and MPs Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i), Alfred Sambu (Webuye) and Ben Washiali (Mumias) on his side.

It is understood that while ministers are sticking with the PM to protect their positions, assistant ministers and MPs are looking forward to being appointed to the Local Government seat vacated by Mr Mudavadi.

Mr Mudavadi has pulled to his side assistant ministers George Khaniri and Manyala Keya; MPs Kizito Mugali (Shinyalu), Chris Okemo (Nambale), David Were (Matungu), Yusuf Chanzu (Vihiga), Alfred Odhiambo (Butula), Evans Akula (Khwisero) and Wilbur Ottichilo (Emuhaya).

He is also supported by Cabinet minister Moses Wetang’ula, assistant minister Bifwoli Wakoli and Kimilili MP Eseli Simiyu who are all members of Ford Kenya.

Housing minister Soita Shitanda and Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale of New Ford Kenya support Mr Mudavadi’s decision to quit ODM and contest the presidency on the UDF ticket.

Mr Odinga and Mr Mudavadi will on Saturday come face to face at a burial in Sabatia before the PM heads to Mumias for an ODM rally.

Mr Mudavadi has asked area residents to give the PM a warm welcome in spite of their differences.

“The DPM requests the residents to give the PM a warm welcome as he is coming to condole with the bereaved families and not to campaign,” said his spokesman Kibisu Kabatesi.

On Friday, Dr Khalwale warned that MPs from the region who had not thrown their weight behind Mr Mudavadi’s presidential bid would find it difficult to defend their seats.

“It will not augur well for anybody’s political capital in the province to go against Mudavadi. Even those who are eyeing the presidency are aware of this fact and that is why we are trying to synergise our political strength for our own good,” he said by telephone.

He warned that those who were underrating the presidential bid by the Sabatia MP, who resigned on Wednesday as the Local Government minister, would be shocked.

“Mudavadi’s issue looks like a joke to those in ODM and his critics but elsewhere it is taken seriously,” he said.

He described MPs from the region who were still on Mr Odinga’s side as ‘junior politicians’ who are serving their first term in Parliament.

However, Mr Khangati and Mr Sambu were categorical that ODM was still strong in the region, stating that Mr Mudavadi should not have quit the party.

Mr Khangati, the Kanduyi MP, declared that he was firmly in ODM since the PM was a stronger candidate than the Sabatia lawmaker.

“I am with the Prime Minister 100 per cent. He is obviously a strong candidate. Mudavadi is now being linked to people who are out to defeat the reform agenda. Just look at the party which has adopted him,” he said by telephone.

Mr Khangati warned Mr Mudavadi that he would face the same tribulations that became of former Trade minister Mukhisa Kituyi during the last elections.

He said Dr Kituyi was “lured” by PNU leaders to undermine Ford-K by moving to Narc Kenya only to be abandoned after the elections.

“They are doing to him what they did to Mukhisa Kituyi in 2007 when they made him a spokesman for Narc Kenya and later dumped him after the elections,” he said.

Mr Sambu said he was still in ODM but wished the Deputy Prime Minister executed his presidential ambitions within the party.

In Kitale, Mr Namwamba said Mr Mudavadi killed his political career and would regret for taking advice from opponents of ODM to leave the party he helped build since 2006.

“ODM is like an ocean, any fish that leaves the ocean for a fish pond cannot sustain its livelihood,” he said in reference to ODM’s perceived prowess compared to UDF’s.