Defiant: Muthama, Mutula 

resist Kalonzo calmly, firmly

Mr Kilonzo: Firm and calm

Mr Muthama: Calm and firm

 By Paul Mui

UKAMBANI politics have taken a new turn with the emergence of Mutula Kilonzo and Johnson Muthama challenging the old order.Today,
the politics of the region are rolling in a fashion that the perceived
king-pin- Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka cannot contemplate, yet he
remains conjoined at the hip with the two and he can do nothing about
it.

It is the emerging reality of changing politics that may have
great ramifications on how power will be wielded in the region in the
days to come.
Equally telling is the fact that both Mutula and
Muthama have been nominated to run as senators for Makueni and Machakos
respectively, even after the VP had publicly expressed his wish that
Mutula leaves the seat for outgoing Kaiti MP Gideon Ndambuki and goes to
contest in Nairobi County. In the case of Muthama, the VP dramatically
paraded Masinga lawyer Boniface Kabaka to challenge him for the Wiper
ticket.
Ndambuki has since conceded defeat and is working within
Wiper in the hope of being appointed a Cabinet Secretary as a loyal
party functionary.
But the two men chose to face the VP in the party
and voters in the two counties opted to stand in solidarity with them
and gave them a resounding approval.
Mutula responded to the VP’s
call that he moves to Nairobi by saying he was shocked that Mr Musyoka
had the temerity to make such a suggestion publicly even without first
consulting him.
To many, the two are merely awaiting a confirmation
vote on March 4  to be the first senators for the two counties. Even
then, they will have to contend with working in an environment where
they are uncomfortable with the king-pin.
So why is there a quiet
tussle between the emerging giants and the VP?. Analysts see it as
initial effects of the shift of the balance of power in Ukambani. In the
runner up to the building of coalitions, it emerged that the VP was
trailing badly in national politics and could not be leader of any
winning side.
The then G7 group that no one is talking about was
drifting away from him and his only relevance lay in swallowing a humble
pie and become an appendage of a leading political side so as to have a
relevance in the emerging dispensation.
Yet, it emerged; the VP
lacked the spine to make that decision. To make that decision required
some awesome courage and leadership. That is ideally what Mutula and
Muthama brought upon the VP.
Those privy to the events of the day say
Kalonzo was literally wailing when Mutula, Muthama and Musila got hold
of him nilly-willy and hauled him into a marriage with Raila Odinga.
Matters were complicated further when the Kamba Council of elders
endorsed the move and the VP had no where to go to.
Mutula told The
Anchor in a conversation at the time that he would sign the coalition
agreement with ODM in his capacity as Wiper Secretary General whether
the VP was ready or not.
The action that Muthama had taken the day
Raila visited Kangundo and Muthama called on Kalonzo to work with the PM
now seemed irreversible.
Events unfolded so fast that the VP found
himself surrounded by hostile factors. At the Uhuru- Ruto side, his
nemesis in Ukambani Mrs Charity Ngilu was holding fort and was a no-go
zone for the Wiper leader.
It was in these circumstances that
Muthama, Musila and Mutula found themselves at the negotiating table
with ODM to save the career of the VP. Thus they are viewed by the ODM
side as the powers behind the throne in respect to Kalonzo. It is
expected that the two may have a greater role to play in the ODM-Wiper
marriage than any other person, a factor that, sources say, is making
the VP find it difficult to accept their new status. The rest is history