By Anderson Ojwang
After a miserable flop and failure of his prediction on the UDA presidential candidate William Ruto to lose the battle to Azimio La Umoja candidate, the late Raila Odinga, the COTU Secretary General is back with another declaration.
From an infamous warning slogan “kateni mti” by the toothless Atwoli to Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate Ruto in the 2022 general elections, to eating humble pie, the SG is back again.
This time, Atwoli is breathing fire and has called for Bukhungu III to lock Luhya votes from the opposition for President Ruto in next year’s general election.
Kateni Mti
Ahead of the 2022 presidential election, he warned: “As a responsible trade unionist, I must tell you who is going to be your president. This man who walks everywhere, I told him in 2014 that you will not be president and nobody will elect you. This young man who is lying to you was born in 1966. That year I completed Form 4, and in 1967, I was employed and he was six months old. I cannot leave from where I am to go beg for support for him. I cannot do that. What I want to say is: if you have the pen, write this down and don’t doubt me, there is nothing called UDA. We know where we are coming from and where we are going. The dynamic of 2022 is different from the one today. Those close to William Ruto in Sugoi, kindly kateni miti when the election results will be released, he will commit,” he said.
When Ruto chided Atwoli
Ruto after the elections chided Atwoli, saying: “God is great. After two weeks of my election, I invited Atwoli to my office and jokingly asked him, ‘You said kateni miti.’ It was not God’s will, and I am the one who is on the driving seat.”
Ruto said Atwoli used a Luhya analogy that “when your dad is gone and you find another man leaving your mother’s house, you call that person your father.”
I hold the key to the Luhya community
Atwoli claimed that he holds the key to the Luhya community and no leader from the region can emerge without his blessings.
Atwoli also warned that nobody can pretend to lead the Luhya community without him knowing and blessing.
“I want to tell you that someone cannot say he wants to be the leader of the Luhya community without me knowing. I want to be honest with you,” he said.
Atwoli said Bukhungu III will be a turning point in the Luhya community’s political dispensation.
“I want to warn and tell you there is Bukhungu III coming up in December 26th of 2026. If you want to traverse Western Kenya, you are free to do so, but after 26th, we will lock the region. We will lock it up,” he said.
The SG said President Ruto had initiated several development projects in Luhya land and that they could not afford to support the opposition.
“Look at the various development programmes and the billions of shillings pumped into them by the government. Look at our Kakamega Stadium and the roads. Do not join the group propagating the Tawe movement,” he said.
The Luhya declaration, June 26th
Last Monday, in Trans Nzoia, Governor George Natembeya and co-principal in the Linda Mwananchi faction of ODM, Edwin Sifuna, held a 10-hour meeting which agreed on a homecoming rally for the Nairobi Senator in Bungoma on June 26th.
He said on June 26th 2026, on a Sunday in Bungoma County, will mark a new political dispensation for the Luhya community.
A homecoming for Sifuna and a day Luhya elders and the community will converge to bless and release him to the world to seek the presidency.
Trans Nzoia Governor, after a recent meeting, announced the homecoming and the important ceremony for Sifuna by the community before he goes out to seek the presidency.
He said the Bungoma homecoming rally will be used to unveil Sifuna’s presidential intent and undergo blessing from the community elders and leadership.
“We will be in Bungoma for a homecoming. All leaders will converge in Bungoma on that day. In Bungoma, the elders will bless our son, Sifuna, to go out in search of the presidency,” he said.
Financial might
Atwoli said a presidential bid required financial might and a candidate cannot base his candidature on financial support from a single quarter.
“The presidency requires money, and if you want to be president in this country, it is me who will help you raise even Sh1 billion in a minute. How can you seek the presidency with money that has been donated to you? It is us who have friends, and it is us who can help you become president. Your personal money cannot make one president,” he said.
He claimed some of the Luhya leaders were being sponsored by outsiders to divide the Luhya community and the vote block.
“Some people have been sponsored by some political quarters, and we know them. You cannot come to divide the Luhya community because you have been sent for that mission,” he said.
Emergence of Sifuna
Sifuna’s wave is fast sweeping through Luhya land and causing political panic among the old guards who are threatened by the new political dispensation.
For Atwoli, the barks may be loud but may have the least effect in the changing political terrain in the region.
