The Wiper Party on Wednesday, January 15, expelled Daadab MP Farah Maalim from his position as Deputy Party leader.
In a press briefing, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka stated that Maalim was removed for violating the Party’s Constitution and infringing on human rights.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Farah Maalim, who until now served as Wiper’s deputy leader, stands expelled for violating the Constitution, infringing on the rights of Kenyans, and making offensive remarks against Kenyan mothers,” said Kalonzo.
The decision follows controversial comments made by Maalim during a recent tour of South Rift with President William Ruto. His remarks were widely criticised as offensive and abusive.
This is not the first time Maalim has faced backlash.
Last year, an undated video surfaced online showing him speaking in Somali, claiming that if he were president, he would have “slaughtered” 5,000 young protesters daily.
Despite clear evidence that the video was unedited, Maalim dismissed it as doctored.
“It’s all editing, cutting, and pasting—taking a word from here and another from there. It’s not an accurate picture,” he said during an interview with KTN.
Kalonzo condemned Maalim’s repeated remarks, saying that they insult both Kenyans and the Constitution he vowed to uphold.
Despite his expulsion from Wiper Party leadership, Maalim will retain his position as a Member of Parliament.
Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has revealed that he wants to be handed the Deputy President’s position in Azimio La Umoja coalition which has settled on Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga as it’s presidential flag bearer.
The former vice-president whose position as the Ukambani political kingpin is under threat also claimed that he is ready to forfeit that position and settle for a lesser one so longs as his community gets a third of the plum positions in Raila administration but they are still arguing over power sharing.
“We want to ensure that the Kamba community gets the respect it deserves,” Kalonzo to Musyi FM.
The Wiper leader also faulted Mr Odinga’s campaign as he clarified that Wiper had joined Azimio la Umoja coalition as a party and not as a member of the defunct One Kenya Alliance.
He further stated that he is among the top three leaders and a key decision-maker in Azimio coalition, whose other member is President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Party.
“OKA shall be at the ballot because we have created a coalition agreement modelled around the three-legged stool known as Azimio-One Kenya Alliance,” he added.
Members of Odinga’s party have repeatedly denied that they signed a deal with OKA as a coalition but individual parties from OKA including KANU led by Senator Gideon Moi and Kalonzo’s Wiper despite the former VP insisting on a Azimio -OKA coalition to deal with political betrayal.
“The three-legged stool arrangement is designed to rule out betrayal. We have left an exit route. Once talks on the Azimio-OKA power-sharing matrix begin, you will hear me insist that nothing is agreed until it is agreed so that no one will betray us again.” Kalonzo said.
Kalonzo who shelved his presidential ambitions to back Odinga for third straight time also clarified on the intrigues that surrounded the signing of the grand coalition deal on Saturday. He lamented that President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga kept him waiting at State House for more than three hours.
He also accused Ukambani governors who are supporting Odinga of working on sinister deals to block him from becoming Odinga’s running mate, a position that has also attracted the attention of Mt Kenya region.
Kalonzo alsomade it clear that he will never hold joint rallies with governors Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) to market Azimio and Odinga’s presidential bid, insisting that he is still Ukambani’s political kingpin.
There is a loud mumbling in Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Party with junior politicians giving him ultimatums if he bends low to become Raila Odinga’s running mate for the third time.
A section of Ukambani lawmakers led by Kitui senator Enock Wambua warned Kalonzo that such a move will lead to automatic withdrawal of their support.
The politician are urging Kalonzo to man up and better his chances of capturing the country’s top seat or lose their support to the Deputy President Dr. William Ruto whose UDA party is making inroads into the region.
But pundits also argue that the MPs who are against Kalonzo supporting Odinga are only doing so to benefit from the former VP’s influence to win re-election.
Kalonzo who appears to have been shocked by the daring move from his would be sycophants has not reacted to the MPs calls, meaning he could be in agreement with the leaders.
He has bragged over his long political resume either as observers point that the ultimatum has not gone down well with him. Reports that the ground is shifting to Ruto can only spell doom to a man who is nothing without the Kamba voters solidly behind him.
There are also reports that the MPs are not being used by any politician to influence Kalonzo meaning there could be truths in their calls.
This section of politicians are against Raila who has been having under hands in portraying his competitors as weak politicians in their home turfs.
The move is a clever way of luring Kalonzo not support Raila for the third straight time without success but instead join Ruto since everybody knows that Kalonzo cannot win the presidency if he goes for it.
But Kalonzo cannot make the brave move since he has been pocked by President Uhuru Kenyatta who is out to shoot his deputy’s dreams of becoming the next president of Kenya.
Uhuru himself has failed to stop Ruto from making inroads into his Mt. Kenya backyard where elected leaders are shifting the allegiance to the DP on daily basis.
The president is pushing Kalonzo to back Raila but reliable sources revealed to KI that the MPs move is a way of telling him to keep off Kamba politics and let the make an alternative move.
Wars have intensified between Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior and the chairman of Kenya Medical Training College Hon Philip Kaloki as new arrangements leave the young and hyped senator confused about his future in Wiper Party.
Both Kilonzo and Kaloki are eyeing the Mukueni gubernatorial seat that will fall vacant when the incumbent, Prof. Kivutha Kibwani retires in 2022 but their wars are splitting the Wiper party into factions with ‘the ground’ dramatically shifting in favor Kaloki.
The two politicians have been sycophantic supporters of the Wiper owner, Hon. Kalonzo Muysoka who has openly endorsed the 71 year old Kaloki for the job, a move that has dealt Senator Kilonzo’s bid major blows.
Kalonzo did not disclose his reasons for backing Kaloki’s bid but ‘the ground’ seems happy with the endorsement. The former vice president is said to have been angered when Junior publicly accused the old Kaloki of frustrating his sister Kethi Kilonzo’s bid to succeed their late father in 2013.
Everybody knows that Kethi WAS NOT legible to run because she was not a registered voter BUT had faked a voter’s card. Her illegibility paved the way for Kilonzo Junior who won in the by-elections in 2013 and successfully defended his seat in 2017.
But the the person who blew the whistle on Kethi Kilonzo’s fake voter’s card was one Grace Mwendwa who was Kaloki’s opponent in Kibwezi. Grace was being used by the senator’s stepmother Nduku Mutula who was being pushed by the regime to go for Mutula Senior’s seat.
Kilonzo’s silly attack on Kaloki was completely uncalled and it showcased his desperations when had curved the posture of a serious candidate to succeed Governor Kibwana.
He got his current position on a silver plate and developed a feeling that his family is entitled to all the top political seats in Makueni. Junior slept on that ‘entitlement’ and now wants to be a governor without initiating any development project for the people.
Prof Philip Kaloki, Makueni gubernatorial aspirant [p/courtesy]Kaloki on the other hand has been using his position as the chairman of KMTC board of directors to construct KMTC camps in Nunguni in Kilungu, Kaiti constituency whose functions were only delayed by the Covid-19 outbreak. The corrupt kmtc boss has also opened another KMTC college in his home area of Emali.
He also performed well when he served as Kibwezi MP but Kilonzo Junior has been sleeping on the senators with total disregard of the Makueni residents.
Junior’s bid is also facing another fresh entrant in the race, Prof. Emmanuel Mutisya, a top class economist who is also leaving his foot prints in Makueni county where he is sinking boreholes for locals and building classrooms to woo voters.
He is fast becoming an isolated man in Wiper boasting of a handful of online supporters after he lost Kalonzo’s support and confidence to bag the Wiper party ticket. He has also been isolated by key allies including Makueni Mp Dan Maanzo who is also his sister’s baby daddy.
To avoid being thrown into political cold in post 2022, Mutula’s better option should be defending his senatorial seat to reorganize his gubernatorial bid and amasse campaign funds.
Mutula Junior is financially limping since he is only relying on his salary and allowances after his stepmother Nduku Mutula too full control of Kilonzo and Company Advocates, a law firm that their late father left them.
The Kamba political kingpin and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has found an excuse to keep off the bitter war between Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzi Jnr and Philip Kaloki who are both his close allies.
In August Kalonzo assured the supporters of the two politician who are eyeing the Makueni gubernatorial seat through the Wiper ticket that he would see how the two can bargain and share power.
But the entry of one Prof. Emmanuel-Mutisya who is fast becoming an household name in Makueni has spared Kalonzo the headache of having to choose between Mutula and Kaloki.
Mutisya is a professor of Economics and Mathematics who has track record of development compared to the two seasoned politicians but Kaloki has also used his position as the chairman of Kenya Medical Training College where he looted and used the proceeds to keep his political dream alive.
Kaloki also used his position and influence at KMTC to ensure that medical colleges are started in interior corners of Ukambani including Nunguni.
He also announced that he will be breaking ground for construction of a KMTC campus in his home area of Makindu.
With Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior’s name off the development records, Mutisya is copying and pasting what Kaloki did when he ran for parliamentary seat.
Prof. Emmanuel Mutisya is also eyeing Makueni governorship on Wiper ticket [p/courtesy]He is hoping from one constituency to the next with international development partners including Toyota Kenya managing director Toyoki Kunoue.
But Mutula is a stranger in his village but he believes that he has been close to Kalonzo enough for Kambas to vote for him on top of the name his father built.
He is taking every opportunity to be seen by the side of Kalonzo as a strategy to market himself.
The two professors Mutisya and Kaloki are relying on their work on the ground but Kaloki is specifically being close Kalonzi to get the Wiper ticket where Mutula is a major threat.
In his Kazi Bila Ubaguzi slogan, Mutisya has also pitched camp in Kilome constituency where he has dug the Kwa Makaa dam in Mavivye. On top of training the youth of Makueni on agronomy and agri-mechanisation whereby youths are trained on how to operate tractors so that they can prepare the shambas of residents, Mutisya has also started the Prof Emmanuel Mutisya Makueni football league. But it is in education where Mutisya who is also the chairman of Kenya Diaspora Community has made the biggest mark constructing classroom blocks for schools and also issuing scholarships to students to join the university.
Not to be left behind, Kaloki has also been putting his position as KMTC chair into good use ensuring that as many students as possible from Makueni are admitted in KMTC and also settling the fees of some of those who can not afford it. In his Kibwezi backyard, Kaloki also runs scholarship schemes. If development was what determined who became governor in Makueni to take over from Kibwana who has taken Makueni to another level especially on matters health and water provision where he has ensured that UN standards that one must have a health facility within a five-kilometre radius are met, the seat would be Mutisya’s or Kaloki’s. As for water provision, Kivutha has seen dams constructed in every village where locals are willing to avail land for the purpose.
