Kamabeka dance lights up event as Gachagua becomes 'man of few words'

Unlike previous national holidays, Saturday’s Madaraka Day festival was notable due to the absence of State representatives from neighbouring countries.

Not even President Yoweri Museveni, a long-time friend of Kenya, who lives just 250 kilometres away from Bungoma, attended.

Opposition leaders such as Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua were also missing.

Judiciary chiefs, who are usually present at such events, were a no-show.

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President William Ruto delivered a 50-minute speech, concluding the event around 12:30pm.

But his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, delivered a speech of less than two minutes, a departure from his usually lengthy speeches. 

The Bungoma speech length echoed a similar length of speech that he delivered on Thursday during the National Prayer Breakfast at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.

“Lusaka was my classmate in University, I know him as the short man from Kamukuywa,” he joked, before making a brief statement to the effect that President Ruto was the vision bearer of the Kenya Kwanza administration. 

He also disclosed that he is a fan of AFC Football Club, which draws most of its fans from Western Kenya.

But nothing could dampen the electrifying atmosphere at the stadium as Kenya commemorated the day in 1963 when it attained internal self-rule from the British colonists which had been ruling the country since 1920s.  

Fueled by a dynamic fusion of traditional and modern dancers, Isukuti drum beats, and the captivating vocals of Maroon Commandos, the Madaraka celebrations ignited the audience’s spirits despite the challenging weather conditions of a chilly morning and a sweltering afternoon. 

The President, accompanied by First Lady Rachael Ruto, Sports CS Ababu Namwamba, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, and other prominent figures, could not resist joining the entertainers in swaying to the rhythm of the “kamabeka (shake your shoulders)” dance, particularly when “Khabusie,” a local hit symbolising the awakening of dawn, took the stage. 

“We have enjoyed and will be in Bungoma on Sunday and, depending on how you treat us, we may decide to stay for another day or two,” said Ruto afterwards. 

The excitement continued on stage as AFC Leopards, a football club with deep roots in the region, clashed with Nzoia Sugar Football Club in a friendly match, satisfying the appetite of football lovers in attendance. 

Before the afternoon match, which followed a lunch break for the dignitaries, the police faced difficulties persuading residents, who had taken over the dignitaries' seats during the break, to vacate them.

“We know you want to take selfies and relish the day, but please move aside so that the dignitaries can return to their seats which are marked, for heaven’s sake,” a police officer was heard pleading with the excited wananchi.

Earlier, despite the chilly morning air, residents queued up at the Masinde Muliro Stadium’s entrance as early as 4am to attend the celebrations.

The main 61st Madaraka Day event was held in Bungoma County as part of the rotating national day celebrations programme. 

By 6am, the Stadium in Kanduyi Constituency was already about 60 per cent full, with thousands of people still lining up to enter the venue, which has a capacity for at least 20,000 people.  

Away from the masses of people waving flags inside the stadium, there were hundreds of others gathered around overflow screens in town catching up with the celebrations. 

“The stadium was filled to capacity. We can’t estimate the numbers because people were in and some outside watching the event from overflow screens,” said Francis Kooli, the Bungoma County police boss.