A political party to unite Coast residents has been registered.
The Umoja Summit Party of Kenya (USPK), which got a provisional certificate on November 14, last year, hopes to rope in all coastal leaders.
The party started as a WhatsApp group of Coast intellectuals.
The intellectuals formed a trust to push the “Coast Agenda”for the improvement of education and development.
Among those pushing for the Coast Agenda is Halimu Shauri, who says the formation of a Coast party is good for not only the area but for the country at large.
“It signifies the expansion of democratic space. It is a sign of maturity in terms of growth of political space in the country and maturity of the Coast politically,” Shauri said byphone on Monday.
However, questions linger on how the new party will be received aspopular political personalities are members of different political alignments like ODM and Jubilee.
“We will talk to them and explain what we are all about. It will not be easy or cheap but we will try,” interim party secretary general Naomi Cidi said.
She added: “We will ask them a simple question. What have ODM and Jubilee done for them and the people they represent?”
This is not the first time the region is coming up with a party intended to be the vehicle of choice for its people. Other attempts have failed.
Shirikisho Party of Kenya, Kadu Asili, Chama Cha Uzalendo and Devolution Party of Kenya are some of the parties formed with the same objective. They were all unsuccessful.
Cidi said all the parties have “baggage” and the region needs to start on a clean slate.
“One (Shirikisho) was said to have been sold to PNU, another (Kadu Asili) was said to have been absorbed into Jubilee. There are so many grey areas,” she said.
The plan is to call a meeting with the leaders of the other parties with the aim of forming a coalition of some sort, she added.
This will be after the party gets the proper registration certificate, then it will be able to field candidates for any election.
Cidi said Coast has been divided for a long time and that the support of the national government has been “haphazard”.
The Political Parties Act requires a party to have its presence in at least 25 out of the 47 counties, with each county having not less than 1,000 members. “It means it has to recruit members from 25 counties. Coast has only six,” Shauri said.
WILL NEED SUPPORTERS
Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire said having a Coast party was a good idea but he was doubtful of the future of the new one.
“They could have picked one of the already registered parties at the Coast,” he said.
The MP said registering a political party is one thing but making it successful is another. “Registering a political party does not mean you will win the people’s hearts,” the ODM legislator added.
Mwambire is one of those behind the push to have ODM deputy party leader and Mombasa governor Hassan Joho take over the party leadership after its leader, Raila Odinga, retires.
Joho is not known to push for a Coast party which would mean abandoning the Orange bus.
ODM has been the party of choice for most Coast leaders.
However, Kilifi governor Amason Kingi has been vocal about the formation of a Coast party. As such he is seen to be drifting from Joho, who has presidential ambitions.