Embattled Bungoma senator Moses Wetangula whose political fate lies in the hands of the independent electoral and boundaries commission – IEBC has dared the commission to delete his name and face his wrath that is not specified.
Wetangula who is expected to face a special committee set up by the IEBC to launch a defense against the bribery allegations that were confirmed by the court of appeal told mourners at the funeral of a retired education officer in Kimabole village of Mt. Elgon constituency that the IEBC has no right to delete his name from the voter’s register.
“I have told IEBC and the Jubilee government publicly in many occasions that let them try to delete my name from the voter’s register and they will see….’wacha wajaribu waone…’ he said in Swahili.
The senator who is also the party leader of Ford Kenya wondered why he and the people of Bungoma county have been subjected to such moves even after he won the senatorial seat in 2013 but was later subjected to a by-election that he won by a landslide hence read mischief in the new move to initiate the deletion of his name from the register.
“My people didn’t you vote for me in the general elections in 2013 where I won and they said that we go in for a by-election which I won with a landslide, then what is it that they are now coming to say that they remove my name from the voters’ register?” he asked the mourners.
He said that the move to want to delete his name from the voter’s register is political and is related to the 2017 general elections noting that the Jubilee government is in fear of the opposition, coalition of CORD and that is why they want his name removed from the voter’s register.
Wetangula noted that the ruling Jubilee was wary that CORD leader Raila Odinga might not vie for the seat of the presidency in the 2017 polls hence might back him for the seat and that is why he is being targeted to be removed from the voters’ register.
“The problem that is giving the Jubilee government sleepless nights is that they have realized that Raila Odinga has unsuccessfully tried for several times to become president and is now planning to back Wetangula for the seat and that is why they are coming up with such schemes of wanting to remove me from the register in the pretext that I gave offerings to some church leaders,” he told mourners.
He added that he is not scared with such a move revealing that politics is not for the faint hearted and shall continue criticizing the government whenever it is not doing the right things for Kenyans.
“As much as I respect President Uhuru Kenyatta and his government I shall not relent in criticizing whenever they are not doing the right things because I also want to become the president of this country and thus I cannot be singing everything that Uhuru does as right then I will have no business going for the seat,” the senator noted.
Wetangula’s hard stance on the threat to have his name removed from the voters’ register baffles many people who wonder why he is putting on such a brave face despite being high chances that the IEBC may endorse the removal of his name from the register.
A political lawyer from Bungoma county Professor Nixon Sifuna told West Fm that this is the time when the senator should have moved from public rhetoric on the matter but take time with a team of lawyers to discuss and scrutinize the matter so that he can launch a strong defense before the special committee set up by IEBC.
“At such a time the senator should have now recruited a team of lawyers to study the accusations and draft a strong defense now that he has been given chance to defend himself because all that he says in public rallies with his supporters may at the end of the day not matter in determining his fate that is now hanging in the balance,” said Sifuna.
He pointed out some of the issues that are ailing this country including corruption especially the ongoing euro bond saga which he said that Ksh. 140 billion out of Ksh. 259 billion borrowed from Euro bond billion was shared among individual from the government even before the money arrived in the country and the remaining amount can also not be accounted for.
At the same time other leaders present at the funeral including Sirisia MP Major John Waluke (Pictured), called upon the elected leaders and the upcoming politicians to respect the government of the day and the presidency.
Waluke said that as the opposition fights to capture power and have its own president, it should also give respect to the current president and his government bearing in mind that when they will also have their president they will wish that he be respected by all leaders and Kenyans at large.
“If we are here saying that we want Wetangula to become president, then it is important that him and us with everybody else should respect the current president who is in power and his government because tomorrow when we have our own president we shall not expect anybody to insult or undermine him,” said Waluke who seemed to be addressing Wetangula.
He called upon leaders of Bungoma County and the residents to support the government of the day to achieve development that he said had lagged behind for many years since independence as compared to other parts of the country.
He further noted that as an elected member of the national assembly from the opposition coalition, he is free to support the government of the day even if it is not run by his coalition but for the sake of the people he represents and therefore it should not be viewed that he has been bought to support the ruling coalition.
Wetangula to vie for governor’s seat
On his side Mt. Elgon MP John Serut called upon senator Wetangula to be cautious with his steps in the CORD coalition saying that it will not be possible for Raila Odinga to step aside for Wetangula to vie for president on the CORD ticket in 2017 general elections.
He said that Wetangula should rather start by vying for the Bungoma gubernatorial seat first before graduating into something bigger later after managing the resources of the county.
“I would like to advice my senator Wetangula here that he should keep his eyes on the ball because as much as he is saying that he wants to vie for the presidency on the CORD ticket, I am very sure that guy of Ng’ef ng’ef (referring to Raila Odinga) will not allow him to vie as he watches. My proposal here is that the senator should first start by vying for governor then later go for president,” Serut said.
Other leaders who spoke at the funeral included KNUT executive secretary for Bungoma West sub branch Fred Sichangi, former Saboti Member of Parliament Davies Nakitare, Engineer Robert Malaba Keya among many others who spoke on diverse issues ranging from supporting Wetangula not to be deleted from the polls register and the teachers issues where they urged the government to obey the court orders and pay the teachers their September salaries among many other issues.
The late Joseph Mamai Makokha was a teacher who rose through the ranks of from a primary school teacher to an education officer who served in different areas within Bungoma County.
He succumbed to diabetes and is survived with a widow and eight children.