Edwin Sifuna is Now on the National Stage and he Better Get Some Good Leadership Around him or he will Just Drown in Confusion

The official launching of the Linda Mwanainchi Movement was great for Edwin Sifuna, the opposition teams and for the country. Jamhuri is going to keep moving that is what we always do.

Many of us almost died in prisons and police cells for years in the fight to end the Moi dictatorship and to help move the country forward.

For me it was Muthangari Police Station that just killed me and you are kept there for weeks. You can’t breathe. Some of my great friends like the late Prof. Muga K’olale was there with me and we figured we had to keep alive and get out.

Fare Thee Well: Tribute to Comrade Muga K’Olale – Home | Hivi Punde

We are very proud of those battles and all that has followed leading to the victory for 2010 Constitution which brought our country back to its feet and Kenyans are there and strong and moving forward.

How do we remember and honour Mwai Kibaki? – Home | Hivi Punde

Having Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya as the chief presidential campaign officer for Edwin Sifuna and LMM could be a blunder of unimaginable proportions for Edwin Sifuna. I leave it there for now.

At least he is starting okay by telling Sifuna supporters not to boo Kalonzo Musyoka. It is going to be a hard journey for them and Natembeya knows that which is a good thing.

‘Let us not ruin this journey’: Natembeya after Kalonzo heckling

Natembeya warned that hostility towards opposition leaders could undermine efforts to unite behind a single presidential candidate.

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has called for tolerance among Linda Mwananchi supporters after Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka was heckled during the launch of the Linda Mwananchi Movement headquarters in Lavington, Nairobi.

Speaking during the launch, Natembeya urged supporters of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna to accommodate other opposition leaders, warning that hostility towards potential allies could undermine efforts to agree on a single presidential candidate for the 2027 General Election.

He said Kalonzo had left the event upset and urged supporters to recognise the delicate nature of the opposition’s political engagements.

“Honourable Kalonzo has been here, and he has left a little upset,” Natembeya said.

“You know the position we are in now is delicate. We must speak to one another…,” he added.

Natembeya urged supporters to welcome different leaders and allow them to participate without being shouted down.

“Our people, as we continue with this journey, let us be more accommodating. We know where Kenyans stand, but let us not ruin this journey. Let people from all over come and see that they have freely come to support Sifuna, rather than one person being shouted down by another,” he said.

He also made a direct appeal to those who had heckled Kalonzo.

“To those who were shouting, I am asking you, please be tolerant,” he said.

The governor’s remarks followed an incident in which Sifuna intervened to calm the crowd after sections of the audience repeatedly chanted his name while Kalonzo addressed the gathering.

The disruption began after Kalonzo took issue with Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa for declaring Sifuna the opposition’s presidential candidate before consultations among the political formations had been concluded.

Kalonzo insisted that the selection of a joint opposition presidential candidate must follow established procedures, pointing to November 13 as the date when discussions on the matter would take place.

“Let me tell you legally, because you are a lawyer, you have to wait until the 13th of November; that’s when we will talk with a fellow presidential candidate. He who is here is the party leader,” he said.

Despite the interruptions, Kalonzo maintained that the opposition needed to approach the 2027 contest as a united front, allowing room for consultations and compromise.

Natembeya echoed that position, saying discussions should continue until the opposition settled on its preferred candidate.

“These discussions will continue until the end because we have agreed that Kenya needs only one candidate,” he said.

In reality these are petty things for the opposition but that is their problem.

Leadership has to be focused on what the country needs and that is what Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki did in 2002. There are no jokes about it because it is what you offer Kenyans for a better life that matters to them.

Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada