• Supporters of Chap Chap's Mati sang Yote Yawezekana Bila Wiper after he was announced the winner.
• Soon after Wiper strongmen left the scene, candidates came together and unanimously accused Kalonzo of stooping too low to engage in village politics.
When on Thursday night the returning officer for the Mutonguni by-election in Kitui Reuben Mbuu announced the winner, the message from the rejoicing fans was telling.
Soon after Maendeleo Chap Chap candidate Musee Mati was announced the winner, his aides, henchmen, admirers and well-wishers broke into a rendition that mocked and dismissed the dominant Wiper party.
Mati clinched the seat with 2,892 votes ahead of the Wiper Democratic Movement party’s Stephen Mwendwa Kithuka who got 2,147 votes.
His supporters sang 'Yote Yawezekana Bila Wiper' ridiculing party leader Kalonzo Musyoka in his backyard.
The Maendeleo Chap Chap team appeared to relish in the glory of beating Wiper in the by-election that had nine candidates from various political parties and three running on an independent ticket.
The outcome sends a message to Kalonzo that all is not well in his home ground and he could be facing ignominious resistance unless he puts his house in order. The results could also be taken to mean that his popularity is plummeting.
The remaining seven candidates performed dismally falling short of the 1,000-vote mark. Jake Mwanzia (independent) garnered 853 votes as Jubilee’s Alexander Nzine Nzau got 815 votes, taking the third and fourth positions respectively.
Independent candidate Benjamin Mainga got 398 votes, Chama cha Machinani's Mbunza Kiinda (159), David Kivusyo (independent) got 142 votes and Ford Kenya’s Sammy Mavindya (60). Ending the list was Democratic Party of Kenya's Stephen Nzanga with 11 votes.
Kalonzo had personally led a high powered Wiper top brass battalion to campaign for Kithuka.
The team included party national chairman Chirau Mwakwere, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua and MPs Makali Mulu (Kitui Central) Edith Nyenze (Kitui West), Charles Nguna (Mwingi West), Gideon Mulyungi (Mwingi Central) and Julius Mawathe (Embakasi South).
In the team that fragmented itself into various campaigning segments was also a group of Wiper MCAs at the Kitui county assembly led by Majority leader Peter Kilonzo.
In his message as he addressed campaign rallies, Kalonzo was categorical that a win for any other party would affect his presidential bid.
“My supporters might start having doubts of our ability to compete at the national politics if we failed to deliver a win in a ward by-election in my home county,” he reportedly told the electorates at a rally in Tulia market.
Soon after Wiper strongmen left the scene, candidates came together and unanimously accused Kalonzo of stooping too low to engage in village politics. Despite being interested parties, they could be taken to have spoken on behalf of residents.
Mati and Jubilee aspirant Nzine rued that they had always supported Kalonzo as the Ukambani political kingpin 'but were shocked that he was pitting them against each other by showing bias towards a singular aspirant'.
“A ward by-election is too small for Kalonzo and as candidates, we should be allowed a free hand to square it out amongst ourselves,” Mati said. He successfully challenged the election of Felix Baridi Mbevo leading to Thursday's by-election.
But even with Kalonzo’s personal involvement, quiet campaign manoeuvres by a team of Maendeleo Chap Chap operatives turned tables on Wiper. The party led by Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua employed door to door campaigns as opposed to Kalonzo's mega rallies.
"This was not a contest between candidates but the beginning of a new revolution to usher in development-based leadership not only in Ukambani but Kenya as a whole," Mutua wrote on Twitter after the victory.
Political pundits view Wiper’s humiliating loss as a sign that the ground could be shifting for Kalonzo and that banking on political euphoria to win polls would be a tall order going forward.
It thus behoves Kalonzo, who is eyeing the presidency in 2022, to return to his backyard and attempt to put his house in order.
Edited by R.Wamochie