Former Budalang'i MP Ababu Namwamba. [Photo|Courtesy]
Labour Party of Kenya (LPK) leader Ababu Namwamba had ordered Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala to pull down a Facebook post in which he claims the lawmaker demeaned him.
Ababu says the message posted by Wanjala on his Facebook page on Wednesday degraded his position as former Budalang’i MP as well lawyer with international repute.
Wanjala’s post was made following a meeting held at Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa’s office in which the Busia County government signed an agreement with Sino Hydro Corp Ltd. The agreement seeks to extend the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Project to Busia County at a cost of Sh10 billion.
In the post Wanjala referred to Ababu as “Budalangi resident” and not either former MP or Labour Party leader, his current position.
“My attention has been drawn to a malicious Facebook post by Hon Raphael Wanjala, purporting I’m just a ‘Budalangi Resident’. As Ababu Namwamba, I condemn this act of belittling me, as immediate MP and also a distinguished lawyer of international repute,” Ababu said.
“Hon Wanjala should know, other than holding a degree from Washington Law School, I’m also the bonafide former ODM Secretary General, current Chair of Nyanza Economic Dialogue and also Labour Party Leader. It is disrespect to my persona to call me a ‘resident’. I urge the people of Budalang’i to stay calm as we solve this shame. In the meantime, as the popular leader in Budalang’i, I have urged Hon Wanjala to pull down his Facebook post, failure of which my lawyers will take him to court.”
Wanjala trounced Ababu to represent Budalang’i in Parliament between 2017 and 2022.
Ababu during the August 8 election lost defending his seat on an LPK ticket.
Before joining LPK, he was in ODM where he served as party Secretary General until mid-2016 when he bolted out citing frustrations from the Orange party’s top leadership.