Coast-based PAA party begins countrywide membership drive

The new Pamoja African Alliance Party of Kenya with roots at the Coast has embarked on countrywide registration of members.

The exercise kicked off at the Kilifi party offices where locals turned up in large numbers to register.

So far, the party has reportedly opened 30 offices and targets to have a presence in all counties up to the grassroots level.

At the Kilifi PAA offices, hundreds of locals men and women together with youth who turned up to register expressed their happiness with the idea of a Coast-based party with a national outlook.

They said it was time for the region to have a strong party which will propel their agenda at national level, as opposed to previous years when leaders did not have their party and had to be in either Jubilee or ODM, which belong to other people.

Justus Charo, a village elder from Mkoroshoni area in Kilifi, said he was happy to register with PAA and expressed optimism that if successful the party would enable the region have its own voice for bargaining nationally like other parties.

Speaking after registering as a member of PAA at the Kilifi party offices, Charo said for years Coast has relied on other parties and was not getting the proper allocation of resources.

“I am hopeful that when we go national with our own party we will be heard, sit on the table and if there would be any allocation to be done by the government, we shall have a say and get the resources for people to benefit,” he said.

Charo urged Coast residents and Kilifi in particular to support the party as it would champion their development.

He, however, warned the leaders championing the party to stand firm and ensure the party takes the region to another level, not abandon it later for their personal gains.

“There are many parties formed in the Coast region but they are not strong such as Shirikisho, Kadu Asili, which exist but are not popular for reasons we do not know. If PAA will shine, coastal people will also shine and there will be development,” he said.

Mapema said PAA is not a regional party but is for all Kenyans and once successful shall be like Jubilee, ODM or Ford Kenya.

Asha Said, a resident of Kilifi, said she was happy to be part of the formation of the new Coast-based political party.

She said for years Coast has been riding on other people’s parties because of lack of their own party despite the fact that every region in the country has a party.

“When you go to Ukambani there is Kalonzo, in Kisumu there is Raila, in Central there is Uhuru but here at the Coast we had not have one in the frontline to push the agenda for the region. So, I find it very crucial for the region to have a voice,” she said.

Asha said the region has many legislators who can push the agenda of the Coast with their own party for development.

She said all communities living in the Coast regardless of where they come from should band together and support PAA for the benefit of the region.

“We have seen formation of many political parties here but many had no representation from all over the country, which we are now witnessing in PAA. So, if leaders have seen this and decided to have their own vehicle it will bring positive results,” she said.

She said just recently coast was losing funds because they could not sit on the table to plan for the distribution of the national cake but with the initiative the region stands to benefit.

Asma Salim from Mabirikani, Kilifi, said she came to register and had high expectations that leaders would effectively and urgently address the problems of teenage pregnancies and diseases such as HIV and Aids.

Salim said Kilifi is leading with HIV and Aids and there was a need for sensitisation to ensure the cases reduce for the future generations to prosper.

Chome Ngala, a resident of Kibarani and a fourth-year student at Pwani University, said as youth they are very happy to see formation of the new party and have high hopes that their voices will be heard.

“For years, we have felt that our voices as youth have not been heard as deserved, so after going through the objectives of this party we saw that it's important to be in the forefront to bring change to the region,” he said.

Ngala said they expect to see PAA bring together all communities regardless of tribe or religion.

Kilifi senatorial candidate and prominent lawyer George Kithi said PAA was timely, as it will enable the region have its own political home.

“There is nothing that is better than home. Anything homegrown is best, the only issue I would want to caution is that the problems and the vagaries that have affected previous attempts would probably still be prevailing," he said.

Kithi said his prayer was to see that there is no personalisation of the party.

Kithi said there was a lot of cronyism but PAA must be a party that embraces democracy.

He said if properly constituted, he consider joining the party.

The party is associated with Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi who was removed from ODM as county chairman after it was discovered he was forming a political party for the region.

Edited by Henry Makori