The failure by the Wiper party to pay a hotel bill has once again brought to the fore the shamelessness, some say uselessness, of the party’s MPs, senators, governors and MCAs. It has also exposed the lack of loyalty to the party and lack of respect to the party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on the part of the elected members of the party.
Kalonzo Musyoka
Had the leaders had the welfare of the party and the wellbeing of Kalonzo at heart, shocked followers of the party say, they would have long settled the bill and spared Wiper and Kalonzo the embarrassment he has suffered in the last two weeks ever since it emerged in public that Maanzoni Lodge located at Lukenya, Machakos along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway was demanding money from the party. According to the lodge’s proprietor Chris Musau, Wiper held a conference at the facility where some party MPs, senators, women reps and MCAs spent the night with their girlfriends and boyfriends but they left without paying as they had been invited to the function by the party and in such arrangements, food and bed are usually on the entity making the invitation. In this case, however, it had been expected by the Wiper management that MPs, senators, women reps, governors and MCAs were to foot their own bills because this was a function of their mother party that had seen them secure their seats and as such they owned the party their positions.
Wavinya Ndeti
In other parties such as ODM, the trend is that MPs, governors, senators, women rep, etc take such invitations by their party as a privilege and arrive at the meeting with fat envelopes whereby they fight amongst themselves as to who is going to settle the whole bill this to please party leader Raila Odinga who after the meeting retreats to a room where the participants one by one enter and hand over their envelopes before leaving all smiles. And yet it is not that ODM elected leaders have more money than their Wiper colleagues although it has been said some quarters that ODM elected leaders direct their constituency or county funds to the constituents, but to Raila without whose blessings they would not be elected and so they value Raila more than the voters and so it is to Raila and not the voter they make campaign manifesto and pledges. Not that matters are too different in Wiper as those elected have everything to thank Kalonzo for. An often told joke in Ukambani Kalonzo is that Kalonzo is really powerful in Ukambani if he can make a fool like so and so get elected. It is against this background that Kalonzo’s followers in Ukambani are now baying for the blood of his elected leaders for not paying back for the favour that he did them.
Daniel Maanzo
But a senator who was challenged by locals in Machakos town where he had stopped for a bite on his way home as to why they had not bailed out the party mumbled under his breath something to the effect that he had paid millions for the nomination ticket and so he should be left to look for more money to pay for the ticket in the next election. The financial woes bedeviling Wiper were highlighted by a move by the party’s aspirants for governor in the last elections Wavinya Ndeti who had tried to have Wiper followers donate money towards BBI campaigns in Ukambani. Although the posts that were circulating in social media asking Kambas to sent their muvothi (donation) was dismissed by Wavinya as a fake, many were of the opinion that those behind the scheme retreated after the backlash from Kambas who wondered why an initiative, if it had the popular backing of the people required money to sell. It is said that the money was to be paid to people to append their signatures to show support for a referendum whereby every signature was to cost Sh1,000.
Rose Museo
Wavinya is the chief administrative secretary in the ministry of Transport courtesy of Kalonzo’s request to Uhuru and Kalonzo followers have also directed their ire on her for not footing the Maanzoni bill to show appreciation to Kalonzo. And it is not only Wavinya under attack. MPs serving their third term or second term in parliament such as Makueni constituency’s Daniel Maanzo and Makueni county women rep Rose Museo respectively have left Kambas murmuring loudly that former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama would not have allowed matters to get to that pass was he in good terms with Kalonzo and he would have spent his own money even if that meant that his family slept on an empty stomach. Some have even attributed Wiper’s financial problems to Muthama withdrawing his support on Kalonzo. Others blame it on Raila who has refused to pay Wiper money from the political parties fund.
Judy Sijeny
Wiper did not meet the threshold for receiving finances from the fund but by virtue of having been in the Nasa coalition, had expected to get a percentage of the money going to ODM. Like Wiper, Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC party has also been complaining that Raila has refused to part with its percentage just as Ford-K of Moses Wetangula. It is however telling that the latter two have not fallen into hard financial times as to pay a hotel bill. The reason given for this being that the members are, unlike Kalonzo’s team, dedicated to their party and leader and would go naked if it meant using their own clothes to cover the nakedness of their leader. Apart from financial support to the party and Kalonzo, Wiper leaders have also not been coming to the defence of their party whenever he is under fire from his opponents on the national front something that has left Kalonzo’s followers wondering what they are for Wiper MPs and senators if they can not defend their man or articulate party position to strengthen its footing.
Johnstone Muthama
On learning that Wiper was unable to pay a hotel bill, some Kalonzo followers said that the chicken was home to roost and reminded him that they have for long been telling him to seriously vet those he was handing the party ticket because nearly all were only showing him their teeth pretending that they were smiling. They say it points to a lack of discipline that borders on contempt on Kalonzo that they could let matters get to that sorry state when the salaries they earn are because of Wiper. Should Kalonzo not learn from this episode and ensure that he only surrounds himself with people who would die for him, his followers fear, history will repeat itself in 2022 and he will find himself in even more dire straits. With friends like this, who needs
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