Kawaya has become the loudest salesman of the Ruto project in Ukambani. He moves from one meeting to another declaring that the President is the hero of the region, that roads are coming, that stadiums are coming, that everything is coming.
What he does not say is that the same people who elected him are still waiting for the water that never arrives, the jobs that remain on paper, and the dignity that was supposed to come with representation.
Instead of standing with the community that has decided Kalonzo Musyoka is a must in 2027, Kawaya has chosen to become the point man for a government that treats Ukambani as a political afterthought. His reward is clear: the UDA national organising secretary position, the photo opportunities, the access. The stomach is full. The region remains hungry. Mutuse is no different.
The Kibwezi West MP who once sat in Maendeleo Chap Chap now sings the loudest praise for the same system he used to criticise when it suited him. He tells the people that Ruto has brought the second liberation to Ukambani. Liberation from what? From the same empty promises that have defined the region for decades?
Mutuse was quick to move the motion that removed Gachagua, quick to align, quick to claim credit. But when the people of Makueni and the wider Ukambani ask what tangible change has reached their villages beyond the speeches, the answer is silence. His stomach has found a new home in the government. The people’s problems have not. They are not alone.
Look at the others who have crossed or are busy crossing for the same reasons. Charles Nguna in Mwingi West, Nimrod Mbai in Kitui East, Caleb Mutiso in Machakos Town, Joshua Mwalyo in Masinga, Fabian Kyule in Kangundo, Robert Basil in Yatta, and the rest who now parade themselves as the new face of “development politics.” Development for who?
For the contractors who get the tenders? For the relatives who get the appointments? For the MPs who get the invitations to State House and the soft landings when the next reshuffle comes? The ordinary Kamba farmer in Mutomo, the mother in Wote whose child cannot get medicine, the youth in Kangundo who still has no job — these people are not invited to the table.
Only the stomachs of the elected are. This is not leadership. This is betrayal dressed as pragmatism. These MPs were not elected to become government public relations officers. They were elected to fight for a region that has been used as a voting machine for too long.
When the community is uniting behind the one name that still carries the Kamba aspiration — Kalonzo Musyoka — these leaders are busy telling the people to forget that aspiration and swallow the current menu. They have chosen the short-term comfort of positions over the long-term dignity of the region. Ukambani has seen this movie before.
Leaders who enter government with big talk about inclusion and leave with nothing but personal enrichment. The difference this time is that the people can see it clearly. The same MPs who claim to be bringing development cannot explain why the major roads still end in dust, why the hospitals still lack basics, why the youth still leave for Nairobi with nothing to show.
The only thing that has grown is their access to power and the size of their personal networks. In 2027 the voters of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni will remember who stood with the community and who stood with their stomachs. Kawaya, Mutuse and the rest of the government-allied MPs have already made their choice. They have chosen the plate over the people.
The people will make theirs. And when that day comes, the betrayal will be paid for at the ballot, not with more empty speeches about roads and liberation.