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By Erick Ludeya
Didmus Barasa is a man known for his love to shoot straight from the hip whenever he wants his message delivered home.
His critics may be justified in branding him an outspoken young politician who is trying to punch beyond his weight but a scrutiny into the Kimilili legislators leadership exploits in and outside parliament points to a leadership and political script that can only be ignored at one’s risk.
While Kimilili has produced very aggressive and people driven leaders like him and the likes of former Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Mukhisa Kituyi,Didmus Barasa’s reign couldn’t have come at a better time.
For starters, the vibrant legislator was once an avid supporter of ODM leader Raila Odinga prior to the 2017 elections. His efforts to bag the ODM’s ticket were thwarted because of unexplained bureaucracies at the party.
He opted to join the Jubilee party and that would later be his biggest and perhaps high scoring political maneuver that saw him emerge victorious to become Kimilili MP.
He has since grown up to become an unforgiving critic of the Raila Odinga led ODM party which he has consistently called out for violent activities and undemocratic decisions.
For instance, he stole newspaper headlines when he faulted the police for failing to arrest Raila Odinga following chaotic demos witnessed across the country onJuly 12, 2023.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament Buildings together with Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku and Emgwen MP Josses Kiptoo, Barasa called for the civilian arrest of Raila if police failed to arrest him.
“If the police do not arrest Raila within 24 hours, we want to ask our Kenya Kwanza supporters to arrest Raila and take him to the nearest police station,” Barasa said.
Barasa had for long been at the forefront among other western leaders calling for Raila Odinga to end his protests and adopt dialogue with President William Ruto.
In the ongoing bipartisan talks, Barasa is agitating for the need to be careful abou constitutional changes being proposed.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show, he warned that frequent alterations to the constitution for short-term political interests such as the accommodation of the Office of the Official Opposition leader may end up being politically catastrophic.
“When we are changing our laws, we should be guided by meritocracy, not doing it to achieve a certain political gain. We can’t keep on changing our Constitution every time,” he said.
One would imagine that Didmus overwhelming media presence is only inspired by events outside parliament but a check on the legislator’s contribution on the floor of the house indicates otherwise.
In July,Barasa sponsored a bill aimed at giving a brand new life to the 10 constitutional commissions.
Most of the commissions’ term will end next year and the MP has proposed that going forward,the commissioners in charge hold office on part-time as opposed to full-time basis
The move is aimed at doing away with the hefty salaries paid to the commissioners with most of them commissioners earn huge salaries of upto Sh800,000 per month, besides other perks such as State security, drivers over and above allowances.
In the proposals, the MP also sought to limit the number of sittings for commissioners serving in both the Commission for Revenue Authority (CRA) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to only 15 annually.
Being a self-proclaimed pro-people legislator, Barasa has also brought in another bill seeking to regulate the fares charged by public service vehicles.
The bill has already undergone the first reading at the National Assembly and seeks to introduce a new section to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Act to provide for the development of policy guidelines to regulate the fares payable by passengers.
The bill gives ultimate authority to the transport to determine fares for all public service vehicles in the country.
“The Cabinet Secretary may in consultation with the NTSA make regulations prescribing the maximum and minimum fares payable by the passengers in the public service vehicles within the country and the mechanisms of reviewing fares in the public service motor vehicles,” the Bill reads in part.
Barasa believes the proposed amendment to the law will protect Kenyans who have continued to bear the brunt of increased fares from operators.
Fares have for long been hiked on insubstantial reasons such as changes in weather, heavy traffic, crackdowns on roadworthy vehicles, and the opening of schools, forcing commuters to spend more than what they had planned.
POLITICS
Back in his Bungoma County backyard, talks have been rife that the legislator is gearing up to succeed Governor Kenneth Lusaka.
He appears to have aligned himself behind Ford Kenya Leader Moses Wetangula and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi of ANC following what appears to be an irreparable fallout with UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala
Barasa has for the past few weeks insisted that Malala is unfit and incompetent to hold the position.
He has called out Malala for disrespecting Wetangula and Mudavadi as well as other affiliate parties within the Kenya Kwanza Government.
Barasa is persuaded that Malala is not doing enough to counter opposition ‘propaganda’ and that he cannot match his counterpart Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna of the ODM party.
He has further accused Malala of being a mole of the Opposition and has joined calls by Kakamega senator Bonny Khalwale to have him dismissed.
“An SG of a party is similar to an Evangelist and their work is to preach to people, confess the party’s political faith and bring people to the party,” Barasa told the K24 Breakfast show.
On his political ambitions, it is expected that he will gun for the Bungoma gubernatorial seat but it is not clear whether he will seek the UDA ticket given his ongoing calamadarie with the Ford Kenya party.
In his constituency, he is loved for his agitation for pro-education programs through the NG-CDF kitty.
He himself schooled at Kimilili Secondary School before joining Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
He also prides of overseas education achievements with a Master of Occupational, Health, Security and Safety Science and a Diploma in Security Systems Audit from the University of Sydney,Australia.