The political rivalry between Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale and Governor Fernandes Barasa continues to escalate as the former seeks to unseat the latter as county chief.
Speaking in Malinya, Kakamega County after attending the burial of Mama Buronika Mutola Magwaka on Friday, the senator warned Governor Barasa against what he described as dividing the Luhya community.
"I want to warn Barasa to stop dividing the Luhya community. I am the one who is going to oppose and replace you," the senator said, revealing that he is banking on the electorate's confidence in him and Barasa's performance to unseat the incumbent.
The senator went on to further reveal that he aims to forge unity so that the community can benefit from development.
The two top Kakamega leaders have always been at each other's throats with the latest incident forcing Members of County Assembly (MCAs) to intervene.
County lawmakers from both the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) parties had previously warned Khalwale against attacking Governor Barasa, urging him to focus on his oversight role objectively.
The MCAs alleged that Khalwale was using his position to campaign for the gubernatorial seat rather than advocating for more resources from the national government.
On his part, Governor Barasa has continuously accused Khalwale of engaging in a smear campaign to discredit his administration.
The squabbles between the two leaders erupted after the senator accused the governor of allocating insufficient bursary funds to the wards.
Dr Khalwale argued that the Ksh2 million allocated to each of the wards was not sufficient to support bright children from vulnerable families. He proposed the amount should be increased to Ksh20 million per ward.
But the governor said his administration had allocated Ksh4 million to each of the wards, amounting to Ksh240 million for all.
“We have increased the amount for bursary allocation by an additional Ksh2 million to benefit more children in our county,” stated Barasa.