They say character maketh a man, but for one Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka , his character – perceived or real – has often been his Achilles’ heel.
Few politicians in Kenya have attracted greater ridicule than the son of Tseikuru owing to his penchant for putting his foot in his mouth and changing his stand.
From Watermelon, Fence-sitter, Coward, Chameleon to Mtu wa Kupita Katikati ; the 69-year-old has been at the end of all manner of sobriquets for over a decade now.
No wonder in 2016, in the run-up to the 2017 election, Dr William Ruto described the former vice president as “one who doesn’t know right from left and is always in the middle”.
However, the Wiper leader has said all that is now in the past and as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “… The old has gone, the new is here!”
Mr Musyoka admits he has been dragged through the mad so many times and given some bad names, but he is still here.
“All those naysayers who called me indecisive, watermelon and so on. All those things are behind us. They are gone by 2022,” said Mr Musyoka during an interview with NTV on Thursday night.
“You are looking at a new Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka. Last year I was a buffalo soldier. I will be more than that,” he added.
Likening himself to a pig, he argued he has sacrificed enough his presidential ambitions to atone for his past “political sins” and his support for Azimio leader Raila Odinga in 2022 polls washed away his sins, which were as red as crimson to snow-white.
And come 2027, should he get his party’s nomination to run for president, he said, “I will run like I have never run before.”
“The fool in me ended up supporting Raila for the third time. That fool is wiser now and I am a brand new man,” he said.
Nonetheless, the problem is that Kenyans don’t know in which direction he will run. Will it be to abandon the nod or embrace it? Time will tell.
But this will not be the first time the Ukambani political kingpin will be “threatening” to run for the highest office since his only attempt in 2007. Both in 2013 and 2017 elections, he shelved his presidential dreams to be Mr Odinga’s – a man he calls his brother – running mate.
Nevertheless, in the run-up to last year’s election, he would blame Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi for “fixing” him to rally behind the ODM party leader — in 2013 and in 2017.
Once bitten, twice shy, so the old adage goes. But for the University of Nairobi alumnus, it seems he has not been bitten enough, or maybe he just does not know what a bite feels like.
As much as Mr Musyoka tries to absolve himself from “indecisiveness” or inability to hold onto a position, he has been prone to making blunders that always leave him with egg on his face.
However, he maintains he has largely been misunderstood by Kenyans and his comments taken out of context even when he makes them in jest.
In 2018, he stoked controversy, during his father's burial, when he offered to be former President Uhuru Kenyatta 's errand boy.
Fast forward to 2021, he said he would rather go to Tseikuru than support Raila for the third time, saying he would be the most stupid fellow on earth, only to eat his words.
“Who does not know that once I make a decision, I stick to it? Those still calling me watermelon are just afraid of me,” he would add later.
But quicker than a DJ mixing songs, he would once again find himself dropping his presidential bid after demanding to be Azimio’s flagbearer, then running mate, and then chief minister—or was it nothing?
In his defence, he said his comments were taken out of context, especially by his political rivals, whom he accused of being hell-bent on portraying him as an indecisive politician.
