Natembeya deflated after Malava poll thrashing
He had projected himself as the Messiah the people of Western Kenya had been waiting for.
The self-proclaimed emerging kingpin of the Luhyia community breathed fire and brimstone from corner to the other.
He dismissed the regime of President William Ruto and the more established leadership in the Mulembe Nation.
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However, in just less then two months, his star appears to be dimming very fast.
In a twinkling, the political future of Trans -Nzoia Governor George Natembeya now hangs in the balance after being severely punctured in the by-elections held in the country last November 27.
Out of the 17 parliamentary and civic by-election’s held on that day, Natembeya’s party, Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) did not secure a single seat, in spite of the loud hype he had tossed behind the campaigns.
Instead, it was Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, whom Natembeya had maligned and insulted throughout the campaign period, who quietly emerged victorious without much fuss or fanfare.
Natembeya is the DAP-K Deputy Party Leader with former Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa as his boss.
However, Natembeya had marketed himself as the face of the outfit and the most formidable nemesis of President William Ruto, Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula in Western region.
During the November 27 mini-polls, DAP-K floated a parliamentary candidate in Malava constituency and a Member of County Assembly (MCA) candidate in Kisa East ward, both in Kakamega county.
His party lost in both contests. In Malava where the seat fell vacant following the death of area MP Moses Malulu Injendi on February 17 last year, the DAP-K candidate Seth Panyako – the outspoken secretary-general of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) – lost to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) contestant David Ndakwa, hitherto the West Kabras MCA.
DAP-K was again to lose in Kisa East where the candidate of the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), an outfit led by impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua won.
The two losses have since practically cut the Trans-Nzoia Governor to size. His boisterous display of bravado, garrulity and chest-thumbing has since dissipated.
Natembeya did not show up at the burial of former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo at his Lumakanda home on December 30th, where Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale reported that the former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner had fractured his foot after a slip-up.
However, the Governor was to be seen publicly limping during a sports tournament in the county.
He was later quoted as dismissing a proposal by Mudavadi for the holding of a referendum on the Constitution to coincide with the 2027 General-Election.
Even as Natembeya eats humble pie following the severe thrashing in the last November 27 by-election, serious questions are emerging regarding his capability to lead a political charge.
His handling of and conduct during the Malava and Kisa East by-elections and the incessant feud pitting him and Wamalwa over the DAP-K leadership have exposed so many skeletons in his political cupboard insofar as his leadership style and democratic values are concerned.
In the meantime, it is Mudavadi and Wetang’ula who still claim the bragging rights on the political leadership of the Mulembe Nation.
