Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has revealed that he personally discouraged President William Ruto from attending the burial of his late wife Gloria Khalwale at Malinya Grounds in Ikolomani Constituency, Kakamega County, fearing that the President’s presence would disrupt what was meant to be a solemn and peaceful farewell.
Speaking during the burial ceremony, Khalwale disclosed that Ruto had personally expressed his intention to attend the funeral and subsequently sent his powerful personal assistant, Farouk Kibet, to request the coordinates for the presidential aircraft to land in the area. Rather than welcome the gesture, Khalwale advised the head of state to stay away, arguing that the prevailing political tensions in the region could trigger hostility and turn his wife’s burial into a political battleground.
“The President called me through his personal assistant, Farouk Kibet, asking for the coordinates for his plane to land. But I told him, ‘Mr President, do not come to Malinya,'” Khalwale recalled before mourners.
The Senator said his decision was shaped by a series of events that had soured the political atmosphere in the area in the days leading up to the funeral. He revealed that allies of President Ruto, drawn from both within Kakamega and outside the county, had attempted to organise an empowerment programme at Murhanda Grounds in Shinyalu, a venue deeply associated with the region’s beloved bullfighting culture. The programme, Khalwale alleged, involved spending Sh5 million to acquire land for bullfighting as part of a broader effort to win over bull owners and enthusiasts and undermine his influence as their patron.
The initiative, however, flopped spectacularly. Bull owners and lovers of the sport rejected the programme outright, partly because Khalwale himself had not been consulted or involved despite his standing as the community’s bullfighting patron, and partly due to what the Senator described as the growing influence of the Linda Mwananchi Movement in Western Kenya.
“They took Sh5 million to Murhanda to confuse our children and tell them to relocate, but they refused. I wanted my wife’s funeral to be as peaceful as this because of that incident,” Khalwale said.
Malinya Grounds, where Gloria Khalwale was laid to rest, is one of the region’s most celebrated bullfighting venues, and fighters and enthusiasts from Ikolomani, Shinyalu and neighbouring areas participated in cultural rites associated with the traditional sport as part of the funeral proceedings, giving the occasion a distinctly communal and deeply rooted character.
Khalwale’s decision to keep Ruto away from his wife’s burial is the latest chapter in a relationship that has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past year. Once a visible supporter of the administration, the senator has repositioned himself firmly in the opposition camp, becoming one of the more vocal critics of Ruto’s government and accusing it of failing to honour development promises made to the people of Western Kenya. He has also thrown his full political weight behind Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and the Linda Mwananchi Movement, which has emerged as one of the most energetic forces organising against Ruto’s bid for a second term in the 2027 general election.
In keeping the President’s plane on the ground and his motorcade out of Malinya, Khalwale sent a message that needed no microphone. Ruto is not welcome in this corner of Western Kenya, not even to bury a friend’s wife in peace.
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