George Khaniri the smartest Vihiga politician to challenge Otichillo for Vihiga governorship in 2022.

via Denice Kombo.

George Khaniri the smartest Vihiga county politician now eyeing Vihiga governorship.

Never seem to be in a hurry—hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition

Nobody in Vihiga county politics has mastered this art other than the son of former Hamisi Mp  the late Nicodemus Khaniri. Hon George Munyasa Khaniri or simply George as his colleagues in the August house call him, is a politician par excellence.

Student of the late President Moi the professor of politics.

Vihiga Senator George Khaniri, who was among the best political students of Moi, vividly recalls how the latter introduced him to politics at the age of 21 and enabled him to win a parliamentary seat on a Kanu ticket in the wake of stiff opposition politics.

Khaniri, the longest-serving MP before he clinched the Vihiga senatorial seat, remembers how Moi convinced his family to let him run in the by-election for the vacant Hamisi seat following the death of his father Nicodemus Khaniri in 1996.

“I had come home from USA where I was studying at the New Jersey State University to bury my father,’’ said Khaniri.

“After the family was done with the funeral, elders suggested that one of our family members should vie to finish my father’s term as an MP,” he added.

Khaniri said names of other family members including his elder brother Wilson’s were proposed.

However, Moi insisted that he (the senator) should be the one flying the Kanu flag in the mini poll.

The Senator believes that Moi was impressed with the way he spoke during his father’s funeral.

Khaniri was then to face Ford-K candidate John Isiaho, who had the backing of the then Ford-K bigwigs led by former Vice President Kijana Wamalwa, James Orengo and Mukhisa Kituyi, among others.

“I remember Moi came to campaign for me on the last days of the exercise and that motivated me a lot,” recalls Khaniri, who went ahead to win the seat.

But what exactly is the secret behind Khaniri’s continued service for the past 26 uninterrupted years?

“How I have managed to survive on the ballot for the past 26 years is the question that most people are asking,” Khaniri said.

As much as the MP has attributed his success to the delivery of services to the people, it is also emerging that Khaniri has mastered the art of timing.

‘’George is a smart politician, he is always at the right place at the right time. Look at how he has maneuvered in the national assembly? Despite the acrimony within NASA coalition, he is comfortably serving as a commissioner and nobody is even plotting of how to hound him out of office. See how both Sen Wetangula and Sen Malala were unceremoniously ejected from their positions? Even Kiminini Mp Hon Chris Wamalwa was shown the door when he was seen not to be toeing the line’’ Quips Prof Munyora.

‘’Space we can recover, time Never’ ’ Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821

Khaniri has mastered the art of timing pretty well. During the sunset years of President Moi’s reign, Hon Khaniri was among the few defiant MPs who opposed the idea of having Uhuru Kenyatta as heir. This led to the formation of the NARC wave that propelled Kibaki to power. Wise George survived the onslaught from Kanu and retained his seat on LDP.

Being a political giraffe, Khaniri crossed over from LDP to ODM in 2007 and supported the candidature of Hon Raila Odinga. Many people thought that he had written his own obituary but again he emerged as a winner and went ahead to serve as Mp for Hamisi on ODM.

Khaniri elected Vihiga senator on UDF in 2013.

Without patience as your sword and shield your timing will fail. This fact manifested itself in 2012. When Mudavadi was agitating for change in ODM as he plotted on becoming the party’s flag bearer Hon Khaniri was by his side despite the fact that he had earned his third term in parliament under Raila’s ODM.

Many political pundits wrote him off even as Mudavadi hurriedly left ODM for UDF with Khaniri in toe. A vicious campaign was launched against Mudavadi and his UDF bandwagon cross the country but Khaniri survived the onslaught for the fourth time thus becoming the first Vihiga senator.

With Mudavadi not in parliament and UDF having a deficiency of numbers in both houses, Khaniri once again chose to work with ODM in the house. This infuriated most of those in UDF because many Udf members were pulling towards Jubilee. UDF went a step further to craft a post-election coalition with jubilee much to the chagrin of Khaniri.

Khaniri pulls a first one by declaring support for Mudavadi’s 2017 presidential bid on ANC as he launches the defense of his seat on ANC.

Just when everybody had written him off and branded him a traitor for working with Raila-led ODM, Hon Khaniri being an astute and shrewd politician proved that he was a graduate from Moi’s school of politics by announcing his support for a Mudavadi presidency in 2017.

This caught many political pundits off-guard.  Mudavadi went ahead and formed Nasa which fronted Raila as its presidential flag bearer. Khaniri could again surprise both friends and foe by attending the mock swearing-in of the people’s president at Uhuru park a fete that a majority of ANC members with its leadership skipped.

Whenever Khaniri found himself in an awkward position, he has always played for time which he has enough confidence in as an ally for as long as he remained patient.

Is Khaniri vying for Vihiga governorship?

‘’Recognize the moment, then hide in the grass or slither under a rock as well as the moment to bare your fangs and attack’’

This seems to be the strategy the seasoned Vihiga politician has employed. During the burial of the former Matungu Mp the late Murunga, Khaniri gave the clearest indication that he will be backing Mudavadi for president in 2022. On the ground, the Vihiga senator has maintained close touch with the electorates across the vast Vihiga county by touring at least two wards every fortnight. This has again indicated his ambitions to replace the current governor Hon Otichillo. In his traditional art of timing, Khaniri is playing his timing game and those in the know say that the senator will be announcing his gubernatorial bid in late April 2021.

Will Khaniri triumph this time around again, Otichilo, Akaranga, and Kidake? Time will tell.

Denice Kombo is a bee farmer in Mbale denicekombo2@gmail.com