Homa Bay Town MP George Peter Opondo Kaluma is an interesting man, one worth a mention or two in the annals of “clownism”.
If Google did not tell you the man is an alumnus of the University of Nairobi, then you would easily think we are talking about Kaluma Pain Balm – a menthol for joint or muscle pain.
But this is a man who rather than relieve pain, has earned his stripes as a Parliament jester with his tomfoolery. If we were still in the medieval times, the man would easily have been employed as a jester, only that he appears to be a person who has lived parallel to civilisation that would ordinarily be required of such an office.
Kenyan MPs have in the past been called the unpopular moniker, MPigs, but the 49-year-old seems to have taken the nickname like a badge of honour.
His latest dispatch was a call for a stop to male circumcision, dismissing circumcision as “male genital mutilation”. He went on to argue that the practice is unnecessary and harmful, saying it is only practiced by 10 per cent of small, weak and dirty men.
“Donkeys don’t circumcise except a few human beings who have been lied to that they are grandchildren of Abraham,” said the holder of a Masters in Law from UoN, yes, you read it well, not Nairobi Aviation College.
But who is better to lecture us about Abraham’s lineage than the modern-day father of many (just go to Google about controversies surrounding works of his loins if you doubt me).
Undeterred, he went on: “Let us stop all forms of genital mutilation in Kenya and keep our young people from these social vices.”
Some have suggested that Albert Einstein’s famous quote; “Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything he learned in school’ would perfectly fit here for him.
But the man is not averse to controversy. In most cases, he revels in ruffling feathers and pushing the boundaries of sanity, leaving a thin line between it and its antonym.
No wonder his father forced him out of a seminary after just a year, believing his son’s life belonged in the secular world and not as a priest. The Vatican dodged a bullet!
Mr Kaluma seems to love riding the wave of ridiculous enthusiasm before disappearing only to resurface with another dumb idea.
But what do you expect from a man who has coped with his “not-so-white” teeth for years, despite ridiculing even from his colleagues, displaying them in full glare of the public. Buana nothing can bwogo (scare) the man from the Lakeside.
His bio on X reads MP, Kenya. Human Rights/Governance/Pro-Life Advocate. Teacher. Husband. Father. Mentor. Going by his posts on the platform, I hope Kenya is ready for his mentees.
Just days ago, at the height of unity talks between President William Ruto and his party leader Raila Odinga , the MP went on X to say: “I welcome a united, equitable Kenya with all my body parts!”
Last June, he was at it again posting: “Any child of mine who will not go to the streets with other children of Kenya this Tuesday to protest over-taxation and corruption in government will face a DNA test!”
In November 2022, Mr Kaluma seemed to be celebrating some misfortune facing controversial Kenyan lawyer, Miguna Miguna. He wrote: “The earth is hard! This Canadian monitor lizard imagined he could be a crocodile in Kenya!”
After the declaration of former Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir as governor in the delayed Mombasa gubernatorial elections, he did what he often does best.
“Mwanaume ni ndevu, sio makalio (A man is identified by beards and not buttocks),” he posted.
