Damascus moment as Boni Khalwale turns Ruto advocate

Sometime in September 2003, a first-term legislator caused a stir at a state funeral that would become an enduring legacy of his stint in Parliament. Dr Boni Khalwale had a year earlier been elected as the Ikolomani MP on a Ford Kenya ticket.

Largely unknown until then, the University of Nairobi-trained medic engaged in hilarious antics at the burial of former Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa, who was also his party leader, that would announce his arrival, and define his time, on the big stage of national politics.

On the eve of the burial, Raila Odinga, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), had stormed Wamalwa’s home for the burial in style.

Clad in Luo regalia, Raila arrived at the home along with a lorry load of bulls and bags of maize for the Wamalwa family.

Before he took his seat, he ran around the Kitale ASK stadium, the venue of the funeral service, in a mock fight with the spirits of death in what he said was his way of mourning a “king”.

RITUAL

But alas, this didn’t seem to amuse the rash, excitable, bald-headed first term MP who only viewed Raila in terms of his ethnic identity.

And, perhaps based on the fact that circumcision is not part of Luo culture, Khalwale concluded that Mr Odinga, a Luo, was uncircumcised and could therefore not perform such a ritual. His display, in the good doctor's books, had desecrated the entire ceremony.

Khalwale immediately decided that it was his duty to perform a "cleansing ritual". He immediately roused a rabble of goons from the streets and made for the home to ostensibly cleanse it of the “mess” left behind by Raila.

He quickly cobbled up his version of requisite traditional gear and, spear in hand and singing dirges, he stormed the late VP’s home in Kitale with his rabble even as they threw epithets in Raila’s way, before dragging a bull to the grave to sniff the freshly dug soil before handing it over to the deceased’s son.

POLITICAL GROWTH

That marked the beginning of his antagonistic brand of politics that former Cabinet Minister Sally Kosgei would scathingly describe as containing "too much fury that signifies nothing”.

Going by the moniker “Mtetezi wa Wanyonge” (People’s Champion), which he helpfully coined himself, Khalwale is one among a breed of politicians, small in number, known for the tightness of their fists.

Khalwale is also a man full of internal contradictions. There is no politician he has ever insulted that he hasn’t turned around to later embrace.

And, even though he spent 15 years in Parliament — 10 in the National Assembly and five in the Senate — he never really grew up, politically that is.

Few remember a fundraiser he ever organised even in his own constituency. In the rare cases he did, mostly bull fighting contests, his donations were always not more than Sh10,000.

In the last two months, however, he has presided over many harambees donating big amounts, raising questions on the reasons behind his latest transformation.

HARAMBEES

Whereas, in those 15 years, he enjoyed the privileges of an MP, he never saw the need to contract a chauffeur, choosing throughout the time to drive himself, even where it was clear that the bill to pay the driver was picked by the Parliamentary Service Commission.

Probably egged on by his newfound allies, the man has just discovered the magic of harambees, something he eschewed when he served as MP.

Whereas he previously travelled by road, he has become a regular flyer, swiftly taking selfies and sharing them as quickly on Twitter.

Remember that day in November 2014? Khalwale was among four Nasa MPs who linked Deputy President William Ruto to the Sh8 billion, 134-acre Karen land scandal. Of course, they did not have evidence, but they took a major gamble and Ruto quickly sued.

CAMPAIGNER

Today, the former senator has had his Saul to Paul moment. He has jumped to Ruto’s bandwagon, and like all converts, he is proving to be more lethal than those he found in the house.

He has sang odes that would shame a certain Peter Oloo Aringo who, at the acme of his political power, was court jester extraordinaire.

And it is not just singing odes. Khalwale has officially become Ruto’s blogger, regularly updating the nation on his benefactor’s so-called development activities across the country.

Probably, the lowest of the low in his puerile theatrics was when he took to his Twitter account early this week to announce and expose to the world the fortune the poor kiosk in Kakamega was paid for serving Ruto tea.

UDF

Flashback to 2012. Musalia Mudavadi exits ODM and Khalwale is on hand to pull him away to an outfit called UDF that was believed to have been created by Mt Kenya mafia to steal Raila's political thunder.

The doctor remains true to self, using theatrics to campaign for Mudavadi and occasionally throwing epithets in Raila’s direction, only that, this time around, the circumcision bit was not as pronounced.

Come 2013 and with the results out, he abandoned Mudavadi and joined forces with Cord, training his attacks towards his erstwhile ally in the most diabolical style ever.

Somehow though, he still managed to worm his way back to Ford Kenya where he was elevated to the position of deputy party leader.

Actually, Khalwale’s antics of disruption are not exactly new. It was Mr Khalwale who, alongside the late Soita Shitanda, disrupted Ford Kenya under Musikari Kombo in 2006 when they organised a midnight coup.

LUHYA UNITY

The coup fell through, but through it New Ford Kenya was born - which they used to contest in the 2007 General Election, further dividing the Luhya vote.

The antics did compromise Kombo’s stature in PNU, and sounded a death knell to Kombo's lacklustre political career.

Before his latest change of tune, he was involved in the push for the unity of Luhya through the merger of Ford Kenya and ANC political parties.

Little is known about what became of the mission. Strictly speaking, however, Khalwale’s dalliance with Ruto is not anything new or strange, nor are his theatrics.