Lusaka stature multiplies as Governors hand him new mandate in Western

Bungoma Governor Ken Makelo Lusaka is undoubtedly the man of the moment in realm of Western Kenya politics.

Even as he serves his second and last term as the Chief Executive Officer of County No. 039, Lusaka is increasingly ballooning in both stature and mandate as different organs, forces and interests dish out more responsibilities at the homestretch of his tour of duty at the westerly gubernatorial unit.

The immediate former Speaker of the Senate is increasingly bagging one feather after the other into his granary of achievements.

Last month, 63-year-old Lusaka was elected unopposed to take over as the chairperson of the 14-member Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) to take over from Kisumu Governor Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o in a resolution arrived at during its Special Summit in Bungoma town.

Kisii Governor Simba Arati was unanimously elected as the new vice-chairperson, opening a fresh page in the stewardship of one of Kenya’s largest regional economic blocs.

Lusaka had hitherto served as Nyong’os second-in-command at the LREB.

In his new role, Lusaka who also heads the Agriculture Committee at the umbrella Council of Governors (CoG) is now the political and strategic head of LREB’s Summit, the bloc’s highest policy-making organ comprising 14 counties.

The responsibility bestowed upon the former provincial administrator is only one of the other challenging tasks he has to juggle with at the sunset of his helmanship at Bungoma county.

Early this year, President William Ruto entrusted him with the Herculean task of spearheading the Head of State’s re-election campaigns in the Western Kenya region, a role he had familiarised with before, twice.

In the presidential assignment, Lusaka is deputised by Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula.

Other members of the Co-ordinating Team are Vihiga County Woman Representative Dr Beatrice Adagala, Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama , Teso South MP Mary Emase, Shinyalu MP Fred Ikana, Kiminini MP Kakai Bissau and Hamisi MP Charles Gimose.

In that role, Lusaka and his team oversee the campaigns in the five counties of Kakamega, Bungoma, Vihiga, Busia and Trans-Nzoia counties, all which at the moment account for 2.6 million registered voters.

Lusaka is no stranger to challenges. To an extent he relishes them. His being named by the President to co-ordinate the Kenya Kwanza Alliance campaigns for Ruto’s 2027 re-election may not have come as an ambush to him. He carries with him a curriculum vitae loaded with public service laurels.

Both in 2017 and 2022, he was picked to spearhead his coalition’s campaigns in the counties that fall under the former Western Province (Kakamega, Vihiga and Busia) plus Trans-Nzoia which lies in the former Rift Valley Province.

He contested the Bungoma governorship in 2013 on the ticket of the now defunct New Ford Kenya (NFK) party and won. His party supported the presidential candidature of current Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

In 2017, NFK was among the 14 political parties that folded to support the re-election of then President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Whereas Uhuru secured his second term, Lusaka’s defence of his county seat on the president’s Jubilee Party flopped.

Come 2022, Lusaka joined Ford Kenya party of current National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and recaptured his seat

Ford Kenya teamed up with the also defunct Amani National Congress (ANC) then led by Mudavadi, teamed up with President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to form the winning grand Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

The Bungoma Governor was posted as a District Officer (DO) direct from university where he read History, Government and Political Science and rose through the ranks to become a District Commissioner in which position he served in five districts and later promoted as the first Secretary for Provincial Administration in the Office of the President before being elevated to the post of Permanent Secretary for Livestock Development.

Lusaka, who holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from the Netherlands quit the Civil Service at the age of 45 years to run for the Bungoma gubernatorial seat.

When he was voted out five years later and replaced by hitherto unknown Wycliffe Wangamati, Lusaka was picked by then President Uhuru Kenyatta – through the efforts of Ruto – to serve as Speaker of the Senate for the next half a decade before going back to dethrone Wangamati from the gubernatorial saddle in 2022.

He is married to Dr. Margaret Nafula Makelo, the Secretary for Agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development who obtained her PhD in plant-breeding from Kwazulu Nalatal University, of South Africa in 2012.

He is the first born in a family of eight, with only five still surviving.

The Governor was born to Mzee Nelson Lusaka, a retied educationist and Mama Rodah Namaemba Lusaka, a retired primary school headmistress and later a lay canon in the Anglican Church.

The Governor attended Kamukuywa Primary School, Kibabii Boys’ High School, Friends Kamusinga and Chesamisi High School (for one year).

The assignment given to him by the Head of State will certainly define his next destination depending on the outcome of the presidential election next year.

At the LREB, Lusaka will spearhead the implementation of regional policies, strengthen inter-county collaboration, mobilise partnerships and champion programmes aimed at improving the socio-economic welfare of millions of residents across the region.

The Kisumu LREB resolved to deepen investments in climate change adaptation by allocating at least two per cent of county budgets to climate action, develop a harmonised regional climate policy, strengthen resilient education infrastructure, promote clean energy innovations, operationalise the LREB First Spouses SACCO, establish an integrated regional health data system, review the bloc’s 2022–2027 strategic plan and fast-track institutional reforms to enhance the bloc’s effectiveness.

His elevation significantly enhances Bungoma’s influence within regional decision-making, positions it at the centre of policy coordination, investment mobilisation and development planning for the region.
The new role is expected to boost Bungoma’s visibility, attract greater development partnerships and reinforce its position as a key driver of regional economic transformation.

His leadership is expected to intensify the bloc’s efforts towards sustainable development, climate resilience, infrastructure expansion and improved service delivery across member counties.

Coupled with his role as the co-ordinator of President William Ruto’s re-election campaigns, the tidings can only get better as the sky remains the limit.