Kenyan Speaker Dr. Moses Wetang’ula (2nd from right)with other speakers of East African legislative assemblies on Tuesday September 16 in Kampala…Photo/IP
By IP political desk,Kampala
NAIROBI, Kenya
Few Kenyan politicians have survived as many political storms as the National Assembly Speaker Dr Moses Masika Wetang’ula.
Lawyer, diplomat, legislator, businessman and now the Speaker of the National Assembly — his résumé is beginning to sound suspiciously like a job application for the Kenyan State House.
This week in Kampala, Wetang’ula before presiding over a meeting of East African parliamentary speakers received secret presidential endorsements from the East Africa political elite with the calm authority of a seasoned statesman.
As Chair of the East African Community Bureau of Speakers, he spoke of integration, diplomacy and stability.
However behind the speeches and handshakes, whispers are growing louder: could Wetang’ula be the man to succeed William Ruto?
A Survivor’s Manual in Politics
Wetang’ula’s journey has been a masterclass in political resilience.
From magistrate in the 1980s to representing coup plotters in court, to chairing African Union foreign ministers as Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister his survival instincts are legendary.
“If you can chair AU foreign ministers and still come back to Nairobi politics alive, you deserve a medal,” joked Tanzanian analyst Abdul Mwinyi.
In Parliament, his dry wit has earned grudging respect.
“Kenya is full of noisy politicians,” said Rwandan columnist Jean-Paul Habimana. “Wetang’ula’s strength is knowing when to keep quiet and when to strike.”
The Rolodex That Matters: Oil, Minerals and Gold
Wetang’ula isn’t just a politician — he’s a businessman and a dealmaker.
Since the 1980s, he’s been associated with the gold trade, long before minerals became the fashionable playground of African elites.
Today, his reach extends to Southern Sudan black mercury and Uganda’s oil fields, Tanzania and Congo’s cobalt mines and Kenya’s extractives sector.
His friendship with Sam Kutesa — Museveni’s former foreign minister, one of Uganda’s wealthiest men with global business interests in oil, aviation and trade places him at the heart of East Africa’s resource diplomacy.
Equally important is his alliance with Uganda’s Speaker Anita Among’, a rising power broker from the Teso community, whose people have intermarried with the Luhya of Western Kenya and eastern Uganda (Bamasaaba)for more than a century.
That kinship gives Wetang’ula a subtle but real cross-border identity advantage.
Beyond the Ruto Era
With Ruto, Museveni, Kagame, Suluhu and Kiir eventually exiting the stage,the regions political elite are of the opinion that East Africa specifically Keeps need a stabilizer and a gatekeeper for smooth transition ;and that has manifested in Wetang’ula.
Wetang’ula’s regional supporters argue he embodies the balance between tradition and transition.
“He knows the political and economic dynamics of the continent,” said South Sudanese MP John Arok. “We need leaders who can manage change without chaos and Wetang’ula fits that bill.”
Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi is also admired regionally but often seen by the regional political elite as too soft and vulnerable to foreign interference.
Wetang’ula, analysts and experts say, has “the steel.
Nine Lives and Counting
Kenya’s presidency is not won on résumés but on networks, money and grassroots energy which Wetang’ula has compared to Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka .
Critics say Wetang’ula lacks the populist firepower of rivals.
Yet allies insist he is the political cat with nine lives.
“Every time you think he’s finished, he shows up in a bigger office,” quipped a South Sudanese MP in Kampala.
The Verdict?
On paper, Wetang’ula has the credentials, networks and regional alliances to succeed Ruto compared to competitors .
On the ground, he still has to prove he can rally hustlers, elders and boda boda riders to his cause.
For now, he keeps showing up in the right rooms and in politics that’s how whispers become campaigns fueled by strong endorsements from all political divides.
