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After laughing it up with President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and posing for photos on the red carpet at State House, Nairobi, Phelix Odiwuor, best known as Jalang’o or Jalas— is not laughing anymore after Azimio leader Raila Odinga kicked him out of a party get-together for hanging with the enemy.
Jalas, the bubbly first-time Member of Parliament who rose from an actor to a celebrated radio co-host via comedy, the MP for Lang’ata Constituency in Nairobi, has had his star rising and shining since he was elected to parliament, riding on the massive Odinga-powered Orange Democratic Party (ODM) wave.
But things turned sour after Tuesday, February 7, when he met Ruto—Odinga’s archival and his deputy, whom Odinga disparagingly calls Gachietha, an insulting nickname derived from Dholuo’s word for excrement, sparked Baba’s ire.
On Tuesday morning, nine Luo Nyanza lawmakers elected on an ODM ticket paid a visit to the State House in Nairobi. After a meeting with Ruto, they posed for photos, which shortly after went viral.
The act was seen as paying homage to President Ruto, whose election and presidency Odinga has refused to recognize and instead called his supporters to resist and reclaim their victory.
Azimio has accused Ruto of using his position to weaken the opposition and this is yet another example.
Interestingly, Jalas was the most talked about legislator, yet eight others Luo Nyanza legislators, including Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda, who visited with the President, were not criticized as much.
President Ruto celebrated the moment on Twitter with two messages.
“Leaders must join hands, foster coexistence and work together in confronting the challenges facing our country. They must endeavour to lead by example and serve the interest of the people. This is a sure route to a more united and developed Kenya,” Ruto said.
But a second tweet appeared to betray the thinking behind Ruto’s move.
“At @StateHouseKenya, Nairobi, held a consultative meeting with MPs from Nyanza following a recent visit to the region,” Ruto tweeted.
As MP for Langata, Jalas is not a Luo Nyanza MP, so his presence in the Ruto’s definition was suspect.
Word is there’s suspicion within ODM circles that Jalas is a closet Ruto supporter.
In the run-up to the last year’s General Election, when political parties were holding party primaries to determine the candidates who would fly their flags, a rumor emerged from the ODM party supporters that Jalang’o would not be given ODM’s party ticket to vie the Lang’ata seat.
The reason, it was rumored, was that the former comedian had his heart in Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and was in ODM to get votes of Odinga’s support. The rumor slid. Jalas was given the party ticket, vied, and won.
After the election loss, Odinga embarked on public consultation forums with a message that Ruto was not legitimately elected. Thus, he and his supporters don’t recognize his administration.
Such rallies have been held in Nairobi, and Jalas has been at the forefront, working up the crowds. For that, he was seen by many as a close friend of Raila. At a time like now, when Baba is waging a high-octane war against Ruto, Jalas’ dalliance with Ruto is seen as a significant betrayal.
The ODM party and its elected leaders, such as governors Anyang’ Nyong’o, James Orengo, and Senator Edwin Sifuna, criticized the State House visit, terming it as selfish.
Perhaps things would not be as serious as they got had Jalas kept quiet after the State House visit.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he went to a media interview at Standard Group-owned Spice FM the following day to discuss the visit and respond to critics. There, he said that the people of Lang’ata don’t care who is the President of the Republic but want development in the constituency.
“It’s the people of Lang’ata who will judge me at the end of the day, politics notwithstanding,” Jalango said. “Raila has already given us the go-ahead on matters development. Every party member has a key to discuss development. If I had to call him again in regards to the State House call and he said no, I would still have gone.”
The MP said he would still attend the Azimio public consultation rallies because that, he said, is politics.
On Thursday, February 8, Jalas was denied entry to an Azimio Parliamentary Group Meeting in Machakos by guards who seemed to be under instructions not to allow him in. They said: “Acha aende State House.”
In an interview with the media soon after he was locked out of the meeting, Jalas said he would not apologize for meeting Ruto. But he remained unapologetic.
“I’m shocked that I’ve been frog-marched outside the meeting venue. Nonetheless, my loyalty to ODM remains unwavering. I only visited State House to speak with the President on matters development. I did not tell him that I want to join his party. I’m being mistreated in a political party that I’m highly loyal to,” Jalango said.
When asked if he fears being deregistered and chased out of the ODM party, he said: “I won’t be the first, neither will I be the last.”
Edwin Sifuna, the Senator for Nairobi and ODM’s Secretary General, took Jalas to task and poked holes in his reasoning.
“As a taxpayer, you are not required to beg for development. Just like the government doesn’t call you to the statehouse when taxing you,” Sifuna said. “You likewise don’t need a meeting there to get development. It’s your right. These statehouse visitors are being dishonest.”
On Friday, at a rally in Machakos, Odinga likened the leaders to prostitutes.
“It is Parliament that makes the budget for the national development projects. So if you are feeling itchy and you want to be scrubbed, just go. It is better we remain with a few principled (leaders) than have many prostitutes. If you want to go to the other side, go! We have the people,” Odinga said.
The ODM legislators and an Independent MP, who met with Ruto and Gachagua are: Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Mark Nyamita (Uriri), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Shakeel Shabir (Kisumu East, Independent) Felix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o (Lang’ata), Paul Abuor (Rongo), John Owino (Awendo) and Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda.
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