Leave Ngilu be

Ukambani has some of the strangest political figures in Kenya. John Harun Mwau has been accused of amassing his great and mysterious wealth from the trafficking of narcotics. Of course, no proof has been adduced to support this accusation. Prof Philip Kaloki, one of the Vice-President's most ardent acolytes, has failed to offer any proof that his 'professorship' is genuine. Kiema and Charles Kilonzo frequently butt heads with the leader of their party, sometimes playing footsie with the leading lights of other parties but coming to his defense when someone from his political backyard challenges his leadership. So too, it seems, is Mutula Kilonzo's on and off relationship with the V-P. It remains to be seen whether his recent statements are a ploy to clear the way for the V-P to gain where Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto lose. The remaining men in Ukambani politics are as silent as the graveyard, with the occasional mummers of V-P support from David Musila. Then we have Charity Ngilu, Mama Rainbow. Ever since she scared President Moi with her presidential bid in 1992, she has been a force to reckon with in Ukambani politics.

Mrs Ngilu was not the first woman in Ukambani politics. That dubious honour goes to the Moi Girls of Agnes Ndetei and Nyiva Mwendwa, and with the ascendancy of Wavinya Ndeti, she is unlikely to be the last. But she is the first to have independent national fame, first as the head of the Social Democratic Party and next as the member of the ODM Pentagon, despite the fact that she remains the party boss of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). Despite the tremendous odds women leaders face in Ukambani, Mrs Ngilu has not only managed to hold on to her constituency general election after general election, she has carved out an independent and fearless identity that threatens the received wisdom of masculine wisdom and leadership. She is a tribute to the indefatigable female spirit in the harsh environment of Ukambani, both political, economical, developmental and ecological.

Mrs Ngilu's recent very public falling out with the Vice-President has revealed that the deep gender schisms that prevail in Ukambani are yet to be resolved. Women leaders are still treated with suspicion and if it was not for Mrs Ngilu's national profile, she would have long been relegated to the political sidelines. Unlike in other parts of the country, especially since the death of Ukambani kingpin Mulu Mutisya and the retirement of General Johnson Mulinge, there is no political dynastic tradition. Those attempting to make Kalonzo Musyoka the undisputed head of Ukambani politicians refuse to accept that Mrs Ngilu, with her principled stand against the Moi hegemony and her record of national service, has created a political narrative that is more attractive than the V-P's. While Mr Musyoka was busy as one of the leading lights of KANU and one of President Moi's blue-eyed boys, together with the likes of JJ Kamotho, Sharif Nassir, and Ezekiel Barng'etuny, Mrs Ngilu was a lioness of the Second Liberation, taking the fight to the likes of Kalonzo Musyoka and the other acolytes of the KANU regime. And she paid a heavy personal price for her stand, suffering at the hands of the government.

The men, especially the men of the Wiper Democratic Movement, determined to cut Mrs Ngilu down to size must be reminded that they do not speak exclusively for the peoples of Ukambani. The good people of Kitui Central have reposed their faith in her since 1992 and there is nothing that suggests that they are about to look for different representation in the immediate future. There is, therefore, at least one constituency in Ukambani that is yet to fall under the spell of Kalonzo-for-President that is being perpetrated by the V-P and his acolytes. She has every right to take steps to protect her national and local political constituency. She has deduced from the actions of the V-P and his acolytes that they are not happy with her unwavering support for the Prime Minister, and lately, the Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi. She is not persuaded that Kalonzo Musyoka has what it takes to be Kenya's next President. She has every right to support the politician of her choice. It is not automatic that she will support the V-P simply because he and her come from the same region. If the Wiper Democratic Movement wants Mrs Ngilu onside, it must stop trying to kneecap the political fortunes of the Member for Kitui Central and instead, try to persuade her that theirs is the political ship of the future, and not ODM. If they cannot do so, they will lose. And so will the Vice-President.