Caleb Amisi, a Saboti member of parliament, has criticized Moses Wetangula, the speaker of the National Assembly, for his alleged role in the chaos that occurred at a funeral on Friday in Goseta, Trans Nzoia County.
Sandra Nyongesa, the wife of former Nominated MCA Phillip Nyongesa, had her funeral disturbed when supporters of Wetangula and Governor George Natembeya of Trans Nzoia publicly clashed, requiring police intervention.
Suppose Weangula is to be respected as a regional leader in Western Kenya. In that case, MP Amisi said, he should refrain from using violence, as the incident portrayed the two leaders in an unfavorable light.
"When you see a whole so-called speaker; they call themselves kingpins, third-in-command, mobilising youth to a funeral, why are you calling yourself a kingpin?" the MP said during Tuesday's Day Break program on Citizen TV. When the MP was pressed to provide evidence for his claims that Wetangula was directly responsible for the chaos, he said that some of the youth groups that engaged in conflict acknowledged that the speaker of the National Assembly had mobilized them.
Did you read this?
The youth informed us, and that's who got them fired up. According to Amisi, the speaker is incorrect in the same proportion as Natembeya.
According to Amisi, Wetangula "should not have played into Natembeya's hands;" instead, he ought to have opted out of the conflict.
"If you are aleader in a region and see Natembeya mobilising people to heckle, as a speaker, provide leadership. Have you seen Raila mobilising goons to go to Nyanza? Yet we have had people going against him but he does not behave that way," he said, referring to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is regarded as a regional leader in the Luo-Nyanza region.
"He puts himself on a pedestal and he looks like a leader," Amisi said of Odinga, adding: "Politics is about perception."
On Friday, it was the first time Wetangula and Natembeya had shared a podium in months. The two have not been getting along and have discussed openly the fight for a so-called kingpin and the unity of the Luhya people.