National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale have publicly differed on the impact of Western leaders on the development of the Western region.
Khlawale on Friday, in response, criticized Wetangula in a tweet. He called him out for merely meeting Kakamega Members of the County Assembly for personal gains in the political arena.
“Mr. Speaker, stop there. You merely met Kakamega MCAs to make diplomatic feel-good statements and take pictures to create your desired perception for a hollow kingpin,” read part of his tweet.
Khalwale lauded his predecessors including Masinde Muliro, and William Wamalwa for cementing and uniting the Western regional bloc.
This, he says, led to political stability and commercial capital. He further lamented that he would only follow his predecessor's footprints.
“I stand for what our forefathers saw, and hope to further this vision with an international airport at Kakamega, and its elevation to a city.”
The Kakamega senator accused the NA speaker of dining and winning with the opposition during campaigns in the quest for their party to clinch the top political seat.
A day before this clash, Wetangula had commended the 60 MCAs who attended his consultative meeting to discuss regional matters to unify the community.
“I held a consultative meeting with over 60 MCAs from Kakamega County to discuss regional matters, including how to unify the community,” read part of his tweet.
The discussion was pegged around how to constitutionalize the Ward Fund, Pension, Independence of the County Assembly, and gazettement of the Kakamega Level Six Referral Hospital.
The battle for political supremacy in Western Kenya has in recent times intensified amongst the region’s political bigwigs. The last was in March this year when the current Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya tussled for Bukusu’s political supremacy with the speaker Moses Wetangula.
In a view to challenge Wetangula’s long reign in the region, Natembeya’s narrative focused on the region’s power arrangements. He questioned the impact brought by the long-serving Western leaders.
