As the 2027 Kakamega County gubernatorial contest heats up, the local political arena is devolving into a high-stakes, cantankerous supremacy war that pits former Senator Cleophas Malala against incumbent Senator Boni Khalwale.

It is getting messier, nastier… and there will be casualties.

The atrocity of the war is set to be a blessing in disguise for rivals, including Governor Fernandez Barasa, Prof Sylvester Anami and Boozer Elsie Muhanda, the Kakamega Woman Representative. The protracted and often vicious slugfest between veteran Senator Khalwale and his predecessor Malala is dominating political discourse in western Kenya’s most resourced county.

Inevitably, the widening political fissures are forming what could determine who prevails in a contest that has already attracted biotechnology researcher, Prof Anami Kuti, Muhanda and maybe nutrition professor, Philip Museve Kutima. Prof Kutima is former Kakamega deputy governor but appears to run short of the requisite nutritional ingredients that can make a meaningful return to regional politics.

So far, Prof Anami has steered clear of the murky script of local politics, dextrously engaging with the many cell-groups he has assembled – particularly – in Kakamega north. Ms Muhanda has the uncanny knack for courting brawl may not be panacea the electorate craves for. Muahnda is accused by some of her supporters of being a Nubian Gin (chang’aa) high-priest, which they claim powers her mind during public appearances. Nearly every weekend, Muhanda is involved in brawls, especially at events attended by Governor Barasa. Barasa has, too accused Muhanda of always being high of Nubian gin during public gatherings.

However, the real show-stopper in Kakamega is always the bruising rivalry between Dr Khalwale and Malala. It was on show during Linda Mwananchi Movement Leader Edwin Sifuna’s tour of the county from August 8-9, 2026. Sifuna, who is also Nairobi senator, appeared to lean more towards Malala to the chagrin of Khalwale, who responded by repeatedly reminding the electorate of his instrumentality in introducing President William Ruto to voters in western Kenya.

The Kakameega senator also repeatedly talked about how he had been betrayed by former President Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and former ODM party leader, late Raila Odinga. That Khalwale went to great length to characterise Malala as a political neophyte and a serial flip-flopper tell the story of where the brutal gubernatorial slugfest will be lost or won.

Like the proverbial Kilkenny cats, the two are hell-bent on inflicting heaviest damage on each that neither may survive to celebrate victory. The tale of Kilkenny cats describe the vicious fight between two Scottish cats that at the end of the fight that what remained of them were tails only. The Kilkenny cats devoured each other that nothing remained of them.

Political analysts and grassroots strategists increasingly agree on a surprising outcome: the primary beneficiary of this bitter political conflict is neither of the two antagonists. Instead, the political fallout is paving a clear, structural path for world renowned academic and biotechnology researcher, Prof Elikana.

Since independence, the political landscape in Kakamega has been defined by a specific brand of high-octane politics. The region’s ‘people-centred’ politics riveted around freedom fighter, the late Martin Shikuku. Shikuku still resides in the minds and souls of the independence generation because of his humanism. There have been some imitations of Shikuku’s humanism but the spirit has never been replicated in Kakamega to capture the minds and imaginations of the electorate in the region.

There can only be one Martin Shikuku, voters who knew Shikuku will remind you. Khalwal has strenuously attempted to be a Martin Shikuku. The berth is too wide!

Let’s take stock. Both Khalwale and Malala are master campaigners, known for gift of the garb that keeps audience riveted by their message for long hours. The other commonality between the two is their alacrity to hop onto new political movements. The two share the profile switching parties more than any other politician from the region in living memory.

Since thy shot to the limelight – at different times, of course – they changes parties more than five times. Yet they have remained afloat politically compared to many others that tried and were disastrously tossed out of politics. The electorate acknowledge Khalwale and Malala’s dexterity and personalities that keep them connected with the voters even when their chips are low.

Yet, as their mutual mudslinging deepens, a growing sense of exhaustion is setting in among the electorate. Voters increasingly view the duo’s endless mudslinging as a hidden dearth of ideological vacuity that is driven ion part of the conventional political theatre that has historically left the county economically stagnant.

With the current county administration under intense scrutiny over stalled capital projects and drop fiscal ranking by senate, rating by the public has rapidly shifted. In public discourse, Kakamega is no longer looking for the loudest or brazen campaigner in the room; it is rooting for a builder.

While the traditional political titans are busy suffocating each other, Prof Anami has deftly engineered a massive and structured groundswell. The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) scantiest has systematically taken his campaign deep to the grassroots, bypassing traditional political gatekeepers to engage ordinary voters directly in villages and rural marketplaces.

From Likuyani to Khwisero, the electorate is pushing for fact-driven politics. In their own words, “Rhetoric does not feed a hungry stomach, or pay school fees.” Consequently, diagnostics give way to prescription. Could this be the reason Prof Anami’s profile is steadily gaining ground?

It cannot be gainsaid that the biotechnologist represents a highly-trained, unblemished clean slate – free by the political and economic baggage in the ever-shifting political alliances. Toxic rivalries such as between Governor Barasa and Muhanda; Malala versus Khalwale keep voters hooked on political rhetoric at the expense of social and economic development.

During his engagement with the electorate Kakamega north, Prof Anami has been selling his plan to anchor light industries as the county’s economic blue-print that requires re-imagining. Already, the raw material is there is a county that produces more than 70 per cent of the sugar that consumed in Kenya.

In addition, Kakamega is probably the only county in Kenya that has never suffered the ravages of hunger – even during the famous 1982 inzala yo mugorogoro (the hunger that caused social tensions).

Kakamega electorate have a choice from the nicknames they have given the hopefuls. Will it be Imbuli yo Mutakha (Poor Man’s Goat) Khalwale, Nubian Gin Priestess Muhanda, Rolling Stone Malala or Isiiro ya Kakamega (Heavy Mettle) Sylvester Anami?

• A Tell Media report / By Alice Anyole / Alice is a political commentator based at Masinde Muliro University in Kakamega