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I earned more in media than as MP - Jalang'o
Phelix Odiwour also known as Jalang'o during a past event.
Langa'ta Member of Parliament Phelix Odiwuor, alias Jalang'o, claims he earned more as an entertainer than he does as a legislator.
The first-time MP explained that currently, part of his pay goes towards community work; when he was a radio presenter, he would keep his full pay for personal use.
Jalang'o cautioned aspiring politicians against going into politics for financial gain.
“If you want to join Parliament to make money, you will suffer. Leadership does not need someone greedy. When I was a journalist, I was being paid more than now as an MP, they say MPs get paid a million, but after tax, it is only Sh820,000. Approximately half of what I was paid as a presenter,” he said during an interview with NTV.
Jalang'o ran on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party ticket against his predecessor Nixon Korir of Jubilee but who vied with the UDA party.
Before his political ambitions, he was a radio presenter, comedian, actor, events master of ceremonies (MC) and talk show host.
During his last job on Kiss FM, Jalang’o allegedly took home Sh1.2 million per month.
He started his radio career in 2004 at Kiss FM and transitioned to Radio Maisha in 2012.
He later joined Hot 96 FM in 2017, until he switched to Milele FM in 2018.
However, in July 2020, Jalang’o returned to his radio roots and co-hosted the morning show at Kiss FM alongside Kamene Goro.
Lang’ata seat
Jalang’o resigned from Kiss FM in 2022 to concentrate on his campaigns for the Lang’ata seat.
During the NTV interview, the former entertainer also revealed that he was in the dark on opposition matters after being locked out from all ODM communication platforms, including WhatsApp groups.
He disclosed that he only gets information about the party through hearsay.
He said that his predicaments started after he decided to work with President William Ruto.
“I have been excluded from all party communications. So even if there is anything the party wants support on, I won’t know. Maybe you’ll hear about it through rumours in parliament… It’s a difficult time because I feel like an orphan there,” he said.
He added that he does not regret any of his decisions and he will continue working with the head of state.
“When all those seven judges said that the President is William Ruto, and later on, I began to see his vision and what he is trying to accomplish, I said ‘this is the direction I want to take. I want to work with the President and will not turn back’,” he added.
Asked if he would ditch the party that sponsored him, Jalang’o said that he was in the ODM party to stay and had no plans of ditching the party despite working with the president against party wishes.
“I will not leave the party and I do not have plans to leave either,” he added.
Ballot paper
At the same time, the legislator confessed that voters faced difficulties associating him with his official name during the August general elections.
He said that he plans to drop Phelix for Jalang’o in the ballot paper in the next general elections.
“Using the name Phelix Odiwuor was a challenge during that time,” he said.
This is not the first time Jalang’o has hinted at changing his name.
In 2021, while working as a presenter at Kiss FM, he announced his intention to officially change his name as using his official name would have cost him the chance to win a political seat.
At the time, he said that he feared Kenyans might be unable to identify his official name in the ballot box as most know him by his alias.
