KISAUNI legislator Rashid Bedzimba says his political career is inspired by Cord leader Raila Odinga.
He first saw Raila at the Naivasha GK Maximum Security Prison in 1987, where the latter had been detained without trial after the 1982 attempted coup by elements of the Kenya Air Force.
In the 1980s, the prison had a tough reputation as a weapon of State repression. A number of people accused of the failed coup were jailed at the facility.
Bedzimba’s GSU platoon had been posted at the facility to ensure that the political detainees did not escape.
“I would see him [Raila] every day during my shift. He used to sing freedom mantras whenever he came out of the cells for breakfast, lunch or dinner,” the MP remembers.
Raila’s mantras touched Bedzimba to the extent that it inspired him even though he worked in an elite paramilitary unit for government.
“Raila is a person who has sincerely fought for reforms and freedom in this country. His devotion to serve Kenyans was evident when he was being held at Naivasha Prison,” he says.
Bedzimba would quit the force in 1992 and move to the Middle East, where he worked as a security consultant.
He returned in 2001, when Kenya was heading towards the 2002 general election and Raila was a crucial member of Narc.
Najib Balala, then a Mvita parliamentary aspirant, snapped him up as his head of security and campaign chief coordinator.
After the election, Bedzimba was nominated a councilor in the Mombasa Municipal Council on the LDP ticket.
In 2007, Bedzimba, who has vast interests in real estate and transport, successfully run for the Mjambere ward seat in the larger Kisauni constituency on the ODM ticket.
Five years later he was elected Kisauni MP.
The MP says his constituency is far ahead in development compared to other constituencies in Mombasa because of the projects he has initiated since 2013.
Early this month, he issued Sh26.2 million in bursaries to over 5,000 university and high school students from the constituency.
Over 13,446 students have benefited from the Kisauni CDF kitty since his election as MP.
The Bedzimba Primary School in Junda, which was built last year, has three two-storey blocks and a population of over 750 pupils.
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1966- Born in Kisauni, Mombasa County
1974 - Kongowea and Mtopanga primary schools, did his CPE in 1980
1981- St Anne’s High School, Mombasa, sat his O-level exams in 1984
1985- Recruited into Police Force. Served in the General Service Unit in K Company.
1987 - Posted to Naivasha GK Maximum Security Prison. His platoon was tasked to look after political prisoners.
1992- Resigned from the police: Travelled to the Middle East where he worked as a security consultant in one of the palatial estates of the Saudi Arabia royal family.
2002 - Nominated councillor to the now-defunct Mombasa Municipal Council on the LDP ticket.
2007 - Elected councillor, Mjambere ward, Kisauni constituency on the ODM ticket. Also served as the chairman of the Mombasa Town Planning committee from 2008-2012.
2013- Elected Kisauni MP on the ODM ticket.
2015: “How can more than 50 heavily armed police officers raid homes and brutalise residents and the chief officers are not aware? I called the area OCPD, Mombasa OCPD, the anti-terrorism boss and every senior police officer and they all said they did not know about the raid. How can this happen? Are we safe in this country?”
2016: “I have not heard it, but the moment I hear anyone associating me with those gangs, I will move to court so they can explain. I will require that they prove their allegations. As a leader, my focus is on serving my people. I respect Nelson Marwa as a security official, but he should focus on fighting crime. I am not a police officer to go around arresting youth who engage in crime. If the police have information about these gangs, they should arrest and take them to court. We have laws in this country, which everyone is expected to follow.”