Belgut MP: Kalonzo was KANU organiser during Saba Saba oppression
By Kenneth Mwenda, July 7, 2025Belgut MP Nelson Koech has taken a swipe at Kalonzo Musyoka, accusing the Wiper party leader of political hypocrisy for urging Kenyans to take to the streets during Saba Saba commemorations.
Speaking during a morning television interview on July 7, 2025, Koech questioned Kalonzo’s moral authority to call for demonstrations, citing his past role as an organiser in the Kenya African National Union (KANU) regime.
“When you hear someone like the party leader of Robert Mbui, Kalonzo Musyoka, asking Kenyans yesterday to come out and demonstrate on Saba Saba, for I don’t know what reason, yet he was the organising secretary of KANU at that time,” Koech said.
“The people who were harassing Kenyans then, Kalonzo was a serious defender of KANU, that oppressed, as they say, the people of this country.”
Koech reminded Kenyans that it was the oppressive actions of KANU in the early 1990s that led to the birth of the Saba Saba protests on July 7, 1990, a movement that demanded multi-party democracy. He argued that Kalonzo’s association with that era disqualified him from now portraying himself as a champion of rights and freedoms.
“It was against them that you had Saba Saba,” Koech continued. “But today, he is coming to you, and I want to ask Kenyans: do not be too gullible to listen to people who were yesterday’s oppressors of the same Constitution, and now want to act as defenders. It is only because they are on the other side.”
Ruto’s chapel at State House
Koech also addressed recent controversy surrounding the construction of a stone chapel at State House Nairobi, defending President William Ruto against critics who questioned the project’s cost and intent.
“This is not the first time. Even when the President was the Deputy, while in Karen, Mama Rachel had a chapel inside the compound. We used to go there and worship, and there was no problem,” said Koech.
He noted that Ruto’s previous chapel in Karen was of better quality than the makeshift iron-sheet structure currently at State House, adding that upgrading it to a proper stone building was both reasonable and respectable.
Koech dismissed claims that the chapel would cost over Ksh1 billion, calling the figures “media propaganda” and affirming Ruto’s right to worship.
“We have a God-fearing president, a leader who wants to pray. The Ksh1.2 billion figure being shared is not true,” he said. “Let us stop spreading cheap talk and hatred. Why are some people so bitter about a church built for the worship of God?”