Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya…Photo/ courtesy.
By Peter Marango Mwibanda
NAIROBI, Kenya —
The Democratic Action Party–Kenya (DAP-K) promised to be Western Kenya’s political savior.
Instead it is fast turning into just another addition to the region’s crowded political graveyard.
Once championed by Eugene Wamalwa and Wafula Wamunyinyi as the party that would finally unite the Luhya, DAP-K is now drowning in the usual cocktail of ego battles, clan rivalries and whispers of state meddling.
Funerals and church harambees in Bungoma and Kakamega have become shouting matches, with rival factions hurling accusations like funeral dirges for a party that hasn’t even lived to see its first real test.
“The Luhya have the numbers but remain poor in unity,” quipped one elder, summing up decades of political heartbreak.
DAP-K’s meltdown reads like history on repeat: Ford-Kenya splintered after Wamalwa Kijana’s death, New Ford-K crumbled under wrangles and Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC ended up swallowed by William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza coalition.
With over 5 million voters, the region should be kingmaker.
Instead it risks again being the pawn, courted before elections but abandoned after.
For Wamalwa and Wamunyinyi, the implosion is a personal embarrassment.
For the Luhya community, it is a haunting reminder: unity here always seems just one funeral away.
Ends.
