Butsotso Cultural Festival at Emali in Kakamega County on December 31, 2015, served as a battleground for two political nemeses-turned allies Boni Khalwale and the Deputy President William Ruto.
In a charged address, Boni Khalwale, then the Kakamega Senator, accused DP Ruto of bribing politicians from the Western region as an incentive to switch their allegiance and join the Jubilee party.
"Mimi naomba ndugu zangu ambao wameingia jubilee, ile yenye mmepewa mkule kama mmenyamaza, mwache sisi wengine tutoe jasho (I would like to urge my brothers who have joined Jubilee, consume whatever you've been bribed with in silence, and leave the rest of us to toil for our upkeep)," he stated.
He then told the DP that he was unwelcome to meddle in politics of the Western region, not unless he first sought permission from the leaders of the Western Region, that is, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula and himself, at the time.
He warned him that his attempts to conscript junior politicians from the region to join Jubilee would be futile because members of the Luhya community were dead-set against joining the party.
"We are working with Raila, Kalonzo, Wetangula, and Jirongo to remove Uhuru from power so that another community can have a chance to lead the country too," he claimed.
Khalwale also attacked the pensive Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, who had traveled with DP Ruto's entourage, as a junior politician who had no say in the Luhya community and the politics of the region.
DP Ruto, in a rejoinder, accused Khalwale of daydreaming. He taunted him with the reminder that the Jubilee Party came into power after trouncing former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kalonzo and Mudavadi.
He further dismissed his statements as unfortunate and tribalistic, stating that the habit of branding people by tribe and coalitions was backward and a poor way to play politics.
He stated, much to the audience's amusement, that his then United Republican Party (URP) party had 76 Members of Parliament, as compared to Ford Kenya's (Khalwale's party) eight and yet he was not bragging about it.
The two are now working together to galvanise Western voters behind Ruto's 2022 presidential bid.
