They say desperate times need desperate measures. That in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies; only permanent interests.
Bungoma senator Moses Wetang’ula should be going through hard times indeed. The Ford-Kenya leader’s two benefactors – Bungoma governor Wycliffe Wangamati and his Trans Nzoia counterpart Patrick Khaemba – have separately withdrawn their weekly payout to their party boss
Those privy to the goingson say Wetang’ula has been collecting Sh200,000 from the two governors every Thursday to help the party leader “go around the country”.
Stung by the realisation that Wangamati had failed to honour his promise this time round, the Bungoma senator is now planning to go for the governor’s seat in 2022, saying he would have, after all, served his two terms in the senate, therefore the need to serve in a bigger capacity as governor.
This comes as it emerged that Khaemba – the Trans Nzoia governor – had equally stopped the weekly payments in “facilitation fee” to Wetang’ula. Sources say Khaemba is convinced he has nothing to lose now that he was serving his second and final term.
Still, Khaemba strongly believes he did more than enough to pay the Ford Kenya boss millions of shillings in exchange for the hotly contested party ticket during the primaries that yielded many casualties.
Bungoma governor Wyclife Wangamati
It is widely believed that the immensely wealthy Wangamati also paid Wetang’ula millions of shillings to have a smooth sail to the top.
Now serving his first term, Wangamati mounted a glittering campaign against Jubilee’s Kenneth Lusaka, who enjoyed state machinery, unfettered opulence and the advantage of incumbency on the campaign trail.
The governor now understands the Ford-K boss was using the proceeds he draws from the county coffers to scheme to unseat him in 2022. In the runup to the 2017 polls, Wetang’ula was a constant figure in Wangamati’s election campaigns.
The senator’s new designs for the plum gubernatorial slot has since seen his younger brother, Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, who has long been eyeing the Bungoma governorship, make a hasty retreat to instead go for Nairobi governorship.
The MP, perhaps informed by the need to avoid family conflicts in Bungoma, has effectively paved way for his elder brother’s political plans.