Here we go again. The Mulembe Nation is doing what it does best: self-destructing just when someone starts making sense. The orchestrated war to oust Edwin Sifuna from his ODM Secretary-General seat isn’t about “party discipline” - it’s the classic “crabs in a bucket” syndrome that has plagued Western Kenya for decades. You have a voting bloc of 2.6 million people, yet instead of using that demographic might to demand real power, the local machinery is busy supplying the ammunition for their own firing squads. It’s a chronic ailment where the brightest stars are extinguished by the very people they are trying to represent.

Sifuna is out there being the most articulate, combative defender of the opposition, but his own kinsmen are the ones sharpening the knives. The “Old Guard,” terrified of anyone who doesn’t play the transactional game of selling the community to the highest bidder, would rather see the region consigned to political irrelevance than let a “Young Turk” lead. It’s the same old script that finished Kijana Wamalwa and crippled Mudavadi. While Central and Rift Valley leaders circle the wagons around their own, the Luhya leadership is busy organizing its own funeral for 2027.

The economic cost of this petty infighting is exactly why no one takes the region seriously. While other blocs negotiate for dams and highways as a unit, Western Kenya receives piecemeal offers because the national elite knows the region is up for grabs - cheaply. If you’ve managed to survive this culture of betrayal and actually made some money, you’re likely looking for a way out. That’s where 37 by INEZA comes in. It’s a low-density luxury development on Kwaheri Road, just behind Runda, designed for people who are tired of the noise and the “crabs” in the village.

These 37 five-bedroom townhouses are the ultimate middle finger to the political chaos. Developed by Tofauti Lifestyle Limited, the project offers a “profound connection to nature” and a padel court, which is basically code for “a place where you don’t have to hear about ODM internal wars.” It’s a “lifestyle of intention” for those who realize that the only way to win in Kenya is to build your own fortress. While Sifuna fights for his life in the trenches, the lucky few will be enjoying heated swimming pools and landscaped lawns, far away from the sub-tribal jealousies of the Mulembe Nation.

At the end of the day, you’re either being cannibalized by your own elders or you’re paying for a DSQ and full security infrastructure to keep them away. Most of us are just stuck in the middle, looking for those boring Kenyan jobs that quietly pay 60k to 120k while the politicians play their games. The clock is ticking toward the next election, and while the elite secure their enduring value in Runda, the rest of the region is busy ensuring its own irrelevance. Welcome to the real Nairobi.