Ford-Kenya in the crosshairs as party wriggles on death bed ahead of 2027 elections

With only nine months left to the next General-Election, Ford Kenya party is attracting more than casual attention with doubts cast over its future survival.

Indications are that the political outfit headed by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula could be on its death bed.

With its motto as ‘Haki Na Ukweli’ (Justice and Truth), Ford Kenya is the second oldest party in the country after independence outfit Kenya African National Union (Kanu).

The 35-year-old party famed for its outstanding role in the Second Liberation has lately become a centre of national interest in the corridors of power following unprecedented invasions by new political formations and players bent on eating into its spaces.

In 2022, Ford Kenya and it’s leadership mobilised over 200, 000 votes from its Bungoma County bastion towards the successful presidential candidacy of Kenya Kwanza flag-bearer William Ruto.

In the elections, it managed to produce one Governor and one senator, four Members of the National Assembly and over 15 Members of County Assembly across Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia counties.

However, all that camaraderie has fizzled out and the party founded by the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga is literally on its last legs wriggling on a death bed.

Party rank and file have shifted their loyalties to the recently registered Linda Mwananchi Movement (LMM) led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna while its parliamentarians are drifting their allegiance towards the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), the party led by President William Ruto and the largest partner in the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

Presently, Ford Kenya and its 69–year-old leader find themselves a very unfamiliar political corner.

The 69-year-old Senior Counsel is a subject seamy public debates both at national and county levels.

His refusal to relinquish the leadership of Ford Kenya party, his persistent public partisan crusades pushing for the re-election of President William Ruto next year, the insistence by UDA not to again accommodate the so-called zoning of electoral areas for certain political parties, the exodus of key players from his his own political outfit and repeated demands by his cronies to be named as Ruto’s running-mate in the 2027 State House race in place of incumbent Prof. Kithure Kindiki, coupled with a series of court cases continue to raise eyebrows even as the former Bungoma senator himself goes about his affairs unfazed.

But all is not well for the self-proclaimed Papa wa Roma. Moses Wetangula is wading through very stormy currents.

His political turf of Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia is up in flames. During the 2022 General -Election, the populous Bungoma county handed 226, 000 votes to Ruto’s candidacy on the ticket of Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

Led by Wetangula, who is also the Ford Kenya Party Leader, politicians from that county have since incessantly claimed that the county’s votes are what titled the victory scales in favour of Ruto, given that the difference in total votes between him and his main rival, the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga who stood on an Azimio ticket, was a paltry 220,000 votes.

However, four years into Government, the two countries that constitute Wetangula’s political backyard have turned out to be the bedrock of the fiercest opposition in Western Kenya to the Kenya Kwanza administration and Ruto’s stewardship of the nation.

The most notable names opposed to the Ruto regime are drawn from Wetangula’s own Bukusu community which inhabits the agricultural Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia countries.

Fire-spitting Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi Wetangula (who is a young brother of the Speaker), Bumula MP Jack Wamboka and his Kabuchai counterpart Majimbo Kalasinga as well as former Trade Minister Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, immediate former area Governor Wycliffe Wangamati, former MPs Wafula Wamunyinyi and Bifwoli Wakoli are all Bukusus from Wetangula’s Bungoma county who are unapologetic vocal critics of the Ruto regime.

In neighbouring Trans-Nzoia county, Governor George Natembeya and former Defence Minister Eugene Wamalwa, both who are officials of the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) are also outspoken opponents of the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Interestingly, Kalasinga, a former aide of Wetangula’s, is the Speakers local parliamentary representative.

Kalasinga was elected on a Ford Kenya ticket but has since disassociated himself from its leadership.
Wetangula’s own Member of County Assembly MCA) in Cherle/Kabuchai Ward Eric Wekesa was elected as an independent candidate in a hotly contested by-election on November 27 last year, beating the Ford Kenya contestant Geoffrey Maundu.

His brother Tim was elected on an ODM banner to represent the Nairobi constituency for three terms now but has since switched to Bungoma to contest for the governorship, famously declaring that he could run on any other political party but not Ford Kenya.

Last weekend, he was welcomed into Linda Mwananchi grouping that collates around Sifuna.
Wangamati, who was elected in 2017 as Governor in Ford Kenya Kenya colours also decamped to Linda Mwananchi early this week from where he hopes to recapture the seat next year.

Many questions have popped out regarding the anti-government opposition in the two countries, with some wondering whether the rebellion against the Ruto regime has anything to do with the Speaker himself or the Head of State, considering that Ford Kenya is a member of the ruling alliance.

Wetangula, the self-proclaimed Papa wa Roma stands out as the most controversial Speaker of the National Assembly in post-independent Kenya.

No other Speaker has attracted so much bashing than the long-serving lawmaker who has steered the affairs of the Legislature for the past four years.

Even as his influence diminishes on home turf, Wetangula has surprisingly stepped out to stake a claim, through right hand henchmen in the Mulembe Nation, for the Deputy President position at public rallies convened under the umbrella of Empowerment Forum.

His demand for the position currently held by former Tharaka-Nithi Senator Kindiki has triggered consternation and raised eyebrows within the upper echelons of the ruling coalition where allies of the incumbent are questioning why he has allowed Opposition to foment in his home area.

Wetangula has remained under close scrutiny following his decision not to relinquish the Ford Kenya leadership or even fold the party all together as did Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi with his Amani National Congress (ANC) two years ago, to merge with Ruto’s UDA, a development that that elicited friction between him and some of the President’s close associates.

That notwithstanding, the 35-year-old party is teetering on the verge of collapse.

Founded by some of Kenya’s finest intellectuals in the political arena, Ford Kenya and Wetangula are literally clutching on straws with only twelve-and-a-half months to the next General-Election.

The situation is said to be so severe within the party that insiders believe it may not be in a position to survive the next General -Election.

The party is presently engulfed in bitter internal feuds swirling around Wetangula’s leadership.
Ford Kenya is reportedly not able to attract a candidate for Bungoma governorship in next year’s election, in spite of the fact that the Speaker’s own brother, Tim, is running for the position on another outfit.
Ford Kenya is reportedly also unable to attract parliamentary candidates in constituencies where it has none.

These are Bumula, Kimilili, Kabuchai, Mt. Elgon and Webuye West in Bungoma county and Saboti, Endebess and Kiminini in Trans-Nzoia county.

In November last year, Ford Kenya was humiliated in a by-election held in Wetangula”s own Kabuchai ward where the party lost resoundingly to an independent candidate backed by Kalasinga.

This year, Ford Kenya has witnessed an exodus, with most of those who have exited heading to UDA.

The first departure was that of former secretary -general Dr. Chris Wamalwa who joined UDA and has declared intention to run for Trans-Nzoia county governorship against incumbent George Natembeya.

Wamalwa made the announcement during a meeting between Ruto and UDA aspirants at State House on March 4.

When announcing his departure from Ford Kenya, Wamalwa stated that his move had been precipitated by “the need to align with a progressive political movement that prioritises inclusivity and development” and faulted the party’s leadership of failing to inspire confidence and frowning at consultations and team-work.
“Unfortunately, that space no longer exists,” declared Wamalwa.

Also exiting was Deputy Secretary General Elizabeth Iminza, National Executive Committee member) and Youth League President Chekai Musa, Deputy National Secretary for Trade Almas Hadad, Deputy National Organising Secretary David Burare, First Deputy National Treasurer Joyce Cheruto, National Vice Chair and former Trans Nzoia Senator Henry Ole Ndiema, Secretary for Technology and Research Ismael Arale, Water, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jane Nampaso,Trans Nzoia Branch Secretary Joseph Pepela and Secretary for Sports, Gender and Culture Luke Opwora.

The Exodus leaves Wetangula massively exposed. His continued stewardship of the party is a matter of great public interest even as battles court cases seedling to bar him from participating in public political campaigns, the stewardship of Ford Kenya, the impeachment of former Deputy President Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua.

Ford Kenya was established in August 1992 as one of the two offshoots of the original FORD founded a year earlier by six prominent nationalists.

Wetangula’ took over its leadership from former Local Government Minister Musikari Nazi Kombo in 2012.
His stewardship of the party has, however, become a dicey affair each coming day.