The announcement on Wednesday by Azimio One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga that he will give Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu a job if he becomes president appeared to answer the latter’s prayers.
Before the disclosure by Raila that Ngilu would not defend her gubernatorial seat but would instead step down in favour of Wiper party candidate Julius Malombe, the grape vine was rife with word that Ngilu would not be in the governor's race.
In fact, there were tell-tale signs that Ngilu was not interested in the governorship since, as other aspirants traversed the length and breadth of Kitui to campaign, Ngilu pre-occupied herself with accompanying Raila and his Azimio campaign team to other parts of Kenya.
That, coupled with the fact that Ngilu had until Wednesday not pinned any campaign posters and billboards in any part of the county unlike other candidates just less than two months to the August 9 polls, was an obvious sign she had other ideas.
It is also instructive that just under two weeks ago, Ngilu secretly presented her nomination papers to the Kitui county returning officer Dr Macharia Gichichi. The event was to be secretive and when the members of the press got wind of it, they were literally blocked from covering the occasion.
Ngilu’s security and communication aides stood guard at the entrance of the hall where she was being cleared and physically blocked journalists from accessing the hall to take photos of the goings-on. But Gichichi was to tell reporters later that he had cleared her.
The fact that Ngilu opted to quietly present her nomination papers in the absence of the fanfare associated with such an event also sent a telling signal that she could have done it for the fun of it. Local political pundits inferred that Ngilu’s interests had shifted elsewhere.
There is the school of thought that Ngilu has become so unpopular among the people of Kitui that she had realised she would lose the elections if she defended her seat. That across Kitui her popularity had waned significantly is no longer a secret going by opinion polls.
Raila himself had a taste of Ngilu’s diminishing popularity among the people of Kitui during his Wednesday visit to the county when crowds shouted at Ngilu as she addressed some rallies. On the other hand the crowds cheered Malombe wildly when the former governor was called upon to speak.
When he announced he would give Ngilu a job in Nairobi, the Azimio presidential contender was reacting to the crowds' reception of the Kitui governor and Malombe during his rallies a Mutha, Mutomo, Kitui and Mwingi towns.
“I can see you have decided that your governor will be Malombe,” Raila said as he addressed a rally in Mwingi town on Wednesday. Earlier at Kalundu in Kitui town, he had said, “It is overt what you have decided. I will take Mama Ngilu with me to Nairobi.”
It is noteworthy that in her early days as the governor, Ngilu held a meeting with Kitui people living in Nairobi to enumerate the agenda she had for the county. She told the evening gathering at the 680 Hotel in Nairobi that should she underperform, they should caution her.
“I have realised the Kitui people are very unforgiving after they voted out Malombe who had done a lot of projects. If I fail to deliver to the point that the voters of Kitui would want to hound me out of office, let me be cautioned in advance for me not to seek re-election,” Ngilu said then.
And later on during an interview with KTN News at the height of the clamour for the BBI bill, Ngilu came close to disclosing that she would not seek re-election. She said BBI had created plum national positions for women and she might seek to occupy one.
However, the governor was not exactly categorical as she said she would cross the bridge when she got to it. Although the BBI blitz hit a dead end, with Raila’s Wednesday job offer, Ngilu’s wishes appear to have been positively answered.
It could also be recalled that when the Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka initially rejected the Chief Minister's job offer by Raila, Ngilu told the media in Kitui she and other leaders in Ukambani fitted the bill to take up the position.
At that time, Ngilu said she was ready to take up the position that Kalonzo declined and drop her re-election bid in favour of Jubilee party’s David Musila who is seeking the governorship. After Kalonzo later accepted the job, the tide appears to have shifted in favour of Malombe who was on Wednesday endorsed by Raila.
Ngilu and her administration appeared to lose favour with Kitui people after she adopted a policy of carrying out soft projects of empowering the people as opposed to brick and mortar that were the hallmark of her predecessor Malombe’s development.
According to many a residents of Kitui, Ngilu’s hyped projects like the famous Kicotec, the Kwa Kilui stone crasher, artificial insemination programme, leatherwork, cabros, traditional wine, fruit juices and tomato paste and chemical factories did not have immediate positive economic impact on them.
Ngilu’s other projects like Kitui County Health Insurance Cover (K-Chic) and the 'Ndengu Revolution' also collapsed making the masses unhappy as they were multi-million shillings projects.
Analysts say Ngilu’s performance, viewed against the achievements of Malombe, was considered poor, making the residents unhappy and distressed. The more the reason they are craving for Malombe’s return.
Due to many roads, drifts construction, ECDE classrooms, water dams and borehole projects, market stalls, boda boda stands and other projects numbering over 5,000 and scattered across the county during Malombe’s era, there was money circulating in all parts of the county.
Malombe’s administration projects were largely executed by county trained contractors who also included youth, women and the disabled. However, during Ngilu's administration, the few projects carried out appear to be token and carried out by selected contractors.
-Edited by SKanyara
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