When bridges are mentioned, Washiali becomes uneasy

Court officers, who on Wednesday summoned National Assembly’s Majority Chief Whip Ben Washiali over pupils swimming across a river in Mumias East constituency, may be unaware the vocal politician is probably uncomfortable with the notion of building bridges.

Whether it is about the national Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) or building a bridge in his own constituency, the legislator is rather cautious.

Last Saturday, he kept away from the much publicised BBI consultative forum in his Kakamega home county and a parallel protest rally in Mumias town.

And with all roads leading to Mombasa for the BBI rally on Saturday — Mr Washiali instead headed to Mumias, this time assured the meeting will not abort.

But it is the matter revolving around a bridge, or lack of one, in Mumias East that is of grave and immediate concern to his electorate at the moment.

FOREIGN TERRITORY

Residents are enraged their children are forced to swim to across River Lusumu to get to Petros Primary School — a development that got the lawmaker summoned to court alongside the local MCA and county officers to shed light on the pupils’ predicament.

Mr Washiali’s quick reaction was that a bridge was not necessarily the answer to the problem.

Children on either side of the river, he explained, should stay on their side and attend schools in their area instead of seeking knowledge in “foreign territory”.

“As a parent, why do you allow your child to swim to school when there are other schools where they come from? Of what use will education be to your child when they die crossing the rivers?" posed the MP.

But pressure from the courts and a frustrated public has persuaded the politician to mobilise locals and assemble a caricature of a bridge even as he waits to process more official funding

The MP, who failed to respond to our endless calls on Thursday and Friday, including text messages, is not new to controversy.

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Washiali is an aggressive and relatively violent politician, who is unrivalled at beating the drums for his cause, but is occasionally — by design or coincidence — unavailable to partake in the fired up dance.

Last Saturday, for instance, the chief whip, who had spearheaded a two-week long boycott of the BBI rally in Kakamega, failed to marshal necessary numbers and whip western Kenya politicians to a parallel rally at Nabongo grounds in Mumias as initially planned.

He was absent from the venue, causing panic among parliamentary colleagues. But on Sunday, Washiali resurfaced with claims he had survived an assassination attempt.

He explained he escaped from his house after a contingent of police officers raided his home on Friday night.

“I heard sounds of vehicles approaching my home and when I peeped through the window, I noticed several police officers surrounding my compound. I escaped through the back door and hid in a thicket behind my home,” he said.

From his hideout, Mr Washiali called a taxi driver who aided his flight to Kisumu Town, where he switched off his phone.

CLAIMS DISMISSED

However, some people rubbished Mr Washiali’s narrative, claiming the politician just made up the story after abandoning colleagues on their big day.

Why, they asked, didn’t he report the attempt on his life to the police? But former Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale was less hostile.

“Hon Washiali has attempted to explain what happened to him, but whether or not we believe his tale is not the issue now. We only wish he would have been with us when we were suffocating under tear gas; nonetheless, we proceeded to do what we had to do.”

This is not the first time for Mr Washiali to be conspicuously absent from an event he was largely anticipated to play a central role in.

In May 2012, for instance, as an ODM allied MP, he skipped a major rally in his Mumias background addressed by party leader Raila Odinga, then a prime minister.

Like in last Saturday’s case, Washiali surfaced the following day from a hospital bed in Nairobi, explaining he suddenly fell ill.

ODM DEFECTOR

But 10 days later, the MP defected to newly found United Democratic Forum (UDF) of Musalia Mudavadi.

It was in the run-up to the 2013 General Election and Mudavadi, then-deputy prime minister, had fallen out with Mr Odinga in the Orange party to campaign for his own presidential bid.

Today, though, Washiali neither dances to the political tune of Odinga nor Mudavadi. It is beats from the neighbouring Uasin Gishu County that is music to Washiali’s ears.

And today, the MP will go to great lengths to protect the political interests of deputy president William Ruto, including physically assaulting his own governor, Wycliffe Oparanya, as witnessed in Mumias town in November 2016.

“He may have missed a few crucial meetings, but Washiali is nonetheless a team player. In this struggle, I have come to appreciate, that it is not always easy for everyone to possess the same level of courage. Some shy away and pick up later but that does not qualify them as weak or less helpful,” says Dr Khalwale.