Lugari Member of the County Assembly (MCA), Grey Moi, has narrated the encounter he had with his opponent, William Makhalanya, in which they engaged in a cat and mouse game just after he had come from a court session in Kakamega.
The MCA said he had just made a stop at Lugari Station in Lugari Sub-county to speak to wananchi before his opponent passed by in his car before stopping in the middle of the road near Lugari Academy Primary School, about a kilometer away.
This was after he had come from a court session pitting him and Mr. Makhalanya who filed a petition seeking to overturn Moi’s win on grounds that the Lugari Ward MCA election on August 9 was not free and fair.
“He came from behind and passed me, he went. And do you know where Lugari Academy is? He stopped there nearly at the middle of the road, he put on hazards and when I passed there he was not in the car,” he narrated.
Mr. Moi said his friend had called him just after Mr. Makhalanya passed by him at Lugari Station, warning him that his opponent had packed the car and stepped out and gone to an unknown place.
“The friend warned me against taking the usual route, told me to take a different route,” he said.
The MCA said he diverted using the route towards Mufutu Primary School instead of proceeding by the road heading to Lunyito.
“I went and found that friend of mine had stopped his car after entering Mufutu junction. So he told me to tell my driver to go in front of me, so we started going, my car was in front,” he continued.
The MCA said just some 100 metres from Mufutu junction, Mr. Makhalanya came from behind in high speed and overtook the two cars.
“When he passed us, then we became suspicous. What might be going on? So we went, in fact I changed from my car to my friend’s car, so my driver just remained in my car, but he was still in front,” he conituned.
He said they proceeded towards Lunyito Secondary School and reached a diversion where they wondered the direction Mr. Makhalanya’s car had taken.
“So when I reached the junction I turned towards my home. Just some 50 meters he came from down there from where I was heading to with a horrible speed again and passed me and went,” he said.
The MCA said he couldn’t figure out what his opponent was up to.
“Me I know politics…at my age (I am turning 70 next month), I don’t like that, and I always advocate for peace. Even in my rallies, I was advocating for peace, all the time, because if you mess in Lugari you’ll mess up everything. You have to be careful when dealing with issues while in Lugari,” he said.
Rumours on murder plot claims
Mr. Makhalanya, while speaking to the Western Kenya Times earlier, denied claims that he pursued Mr. Moi in his car and castigated his opponent for sending allies in public forums to tarnish his name by claiming that he is plotting to kill him.
He even said he is filing a case to sue Moi of defamation.
The leader said he has evidence of the MCA’s personal assistants and a close relative standing and talking ill about him in several funerals in Lugari Ward, including two occasions in two different funerals on Friday.
“Some close relatives to Grey Moi and his personal assistants are going round with my name in their mouths saying that I want to kill him…what I understand in my heart, I don’t have the time of killing, I have the time of working for the people of Lugari. And if they know I know how to kill, let them wait until the day I will kill someone,” he said.
Makhalanya said that going to court to challenge his opponent’s win was his right as a citizen of Kenya and in accordance with the law, and that he doesn’t have anything against Grey Moi.
“I took the IEBC to court, not Moi. It is the IEBC that dragged in his name because he was the winner and therefore has a case to answer,” he said.
The leader said he is ready to move on whichever the outcome, and that he’ll still use his resources to work for the people of Lugari.
“I have presented my part in the case and I am looking forward to a positive outcome. If the court rules against me, however, I am still ready to use my own resources to ensure the people of Lugari get services, just like I have been doing before,” he said.
Asked whether he is ready to meet Mr. Moi and iron out their differences, Mr. Makhalanya said the burden of approaching another is not placed on him but Mr. Moi who is now his leader.
“It is the leader who summons his junior for a talk. I cannot do so, Mr. Moi is the one to step up and have us ponder on the issues instead of spreading rumours about me,” he said.
Sam Oduor is the founder and one of the editors at WKT. With a strong background in Communication and Journalism, Sam is an experienced digital media expert currently building a team of young professionals dedicated to telling the story of our community in a unique, authentic way.
