Amason Kingi-led Pamoja African Alliance party has made an impact in the Coast region after winning three parliamentary seats and 15 MCA positions.
Formed a few months before the general election, PAA won the Ganze and Rabai MP seats in Kilifi and the Kinango MP seat.
In Ganze, former Kilifi county chief officer for roads Charo Kenneth Kazungu ousted Teddy Mwambire who was the Kilifi ODM chairman.
Kazungu garnered 41, 719 votes while Mwambire had13,086.
The party won the Bamba and Sokoke wards seats.
Other MCA seats won by the party in Kilifi were Tezo, Matsangoni, Sabaki and Adu.
In Rabai Kenga Mupe won the parliamentary seat.
In Kwale Gonzi Rai won the Kinango parliamentary seat.
The party also won four MCA seats in Kwale.
Dawa James Ngome (Puma ward) Manza Beja (Mwereni) Andrew Mulei (Kubo South) John Mwatela Shede (Samburu/Chengoni) were elected on the PAA ticket in Kwale.
In Taita Taveta, PAA won the Bomeni, Werugha, Kasighau, Mwanda Mghange and Wumingu Kishushe wards.
Kingi said the number of seats won on the first attempt was a success.
The outgoing governor said the time to market the party was short but the impact was felt.
“That was a warning shot. We are coming to compete with the big boys in the national political arena. We managed to beat several established parties that have been there for ages. Though this is not what we expected we will certainly bounce back,” he said
Charles Chigiri, a communication expert in PAA, said the party would have reaped more seats had it not changed its position in the support of the presidential candidate.
After it was formed, the party signed a working pact with Jubilee after failing to sign a pact with ODM.
The party later joined the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance.
The party leader, however, tried to exit the alliance to join Kenya Kwanza.
One of the PAA luminaries said it became hard for them to explain to the people the move to Kenya Kwanza after setting the ground for Azimio.
“It was challenging. We had already branded with Azimio colours. Things happened so fast that our supporters got confused,” the luminary who spoke on anonymity said.
After Kingi joined the William Ruto camp, candidates for the party coined a five-piece voting pattern asking the electorates to pick a presidential candidate of their choice.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
