Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa at a past event. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
Water CS Eugene Wamalwa has spoken up days after he was chased away from a cultural fete in his Western Kenya backyard.
The CS received a tumultuous welcome when he attended a cultural festival in Mbale, Vihiga County on Tuesday last week.
In attendance were Musalia Mudavadi, Francis Atwoli, and a host of other leaders.
What was supposed to be a brotherly homage was turned into a shouting melee by rowdy mob whose rallying call was for the CS to leave the venue as he was a 'traitor'.
Efforts by leaders present to calm the unruly crowd fell on deaf ears as they demanded the 'traitor' must leave 'their' cultural fete.
The chaos escalated until Wamalwa had to be evacuated from the venue, but not before his car was pelted with stones, forcing security officers to fire in the air to contain the situation.
A section of leaders from the area have accused Mudavadi of stage-managing the whole incident in a move aimed at asserting his authority as the Luhya supremo politician.
On Saturday, the elders who organised the fete wired an apology to Wamalwa saying: "We wish to apologise to you and assure you that neither the leadership of the Vihiga Cultural Society nor its patron Hon. Musalia Mudavadi had anything to do with the hostile reception you got from the irate crowd," reads a letter signed by the society's secretary Benard Chahilu.
On Monday, Wamalwa confirmed to the Standard that indeed he has received the apology, adding he will issue a major statement this week.
"It is true I am in receipt of an official apology from the respectable wazee. What I can tell you is that I have accepted the apology from our elders," he said.