Former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti, PNU Party Leader Peter Munya and DP Party Leader Justin Muturi during a press conference on August 4, 2026. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]
Banqueting has become the defining ritual of Kenya’s political elites. Be they homecomings, thanksgiving ceremonies, fundraisers or empowerment drives, the habit is losing its novelty.
I had assumed the trend was fading, only for two recent ones to prove me wrong. Linda Mwananchi visited Trans Nzoia and Bungoma on July 26, marketed as Mr Edwin Sifuna’s homecoming.
Then last weekend, Homa Bay Woman Rep Joyce Osogo rolled out a lavish banquet graced by ODM luminaries such as Mr Oburu Oginga, Ms Gladys Wanga and our very own Mr Judas Iscariot.
In Mr Sifuna’s case, it would have made more sense if his enchanting visit to Mulembe Nation was publicised as a meet-the-people trip. But calling it a homecoming was a misnomer since he’s the Senator for Nairobi, not any of the Western Kenya counties.
Ms Osogo’s ceremony in her Kanyadhiang home was more puzzling. As a native of Homa Bay, I searched for any tangible achievements by ‘Madam Bensouda’ in advancing legislation and shaping national policy to warrant such an over-the-top feast. Sadly, my search bit the dust!
Plainly speaking, these homecomings have become political fishing expeditions taken too far. That’s why some of them have backfired in the past. In 2019, Mr Justin Bedan Muturi staged a homecoming to the ‘Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga’ shrine in Nyeri, where he was declared the Mt Kenya spokesman.
It sparked fury among locals led by Murang’a County’s Mwangi wa Iria. They threatened to ‘cleanse’ the shrine, claiming it had been defiled. Somehow, since that controversial coronation, Mr Muturi hasn’t known much peace, politically. Was he crowned with a curse?