• The former Prime Minister is fighting tooth and nail to maintain his grip on the region, which is regarded as his stronghold.
• The DP on the other hand has launched a spirited charm offensive, seeking to make inroads in the six coastal counties.
Image: SOLOMON MUINGI
Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga are locked in a battle for the control of the Coast region as campaigns for the 2022 presidential race gather momentum.
Their scramble for the heart and soul of the region, which has more than 1.5 million registered voters, is expected to intensify as the clock ticks to 2022.
For four straight days, Raila has pitched camp in the region to consolidate what has been his political backyard for more than a decade.
The former Prime Minister said the Building Bridges Initiative will bring more resources to the people and help reduce poverty at the Coast, citing the proposed 35 per cent allocation, if the proposals are endorsed at a referendum.
He dismissed Ruto's hustler nation empowerment campaign as "takataka", saying it's an insult to the poor.
But as Raila consolidates support, Ruto is preparing to move in, returning just a fortnight after he visited Nyali, Changamwe and Jomvu.
Ruto also visited Kilifi and Kwale where he commissioned development projects, attended church fundraisers and youth and women's empowerment initiatives.
According to to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission data of 2017, Mombasa had the highest number of registered voters at 580,223, followed by Kilifi with 508,068 and Kwale with 281,041.
Taita Taveta had 155, 716 registered voters, while Tana River and Lamu had 118,327 and 69,776, respectively.
Raila started his five-day tour of the region on Monday. His first stop was Taita Taveta where he held several rallies campaigning for the BBI.
Raila on Wednesday morning landed in Kilifi county where he also led campaigns for the amendments to the Constitution.
The political titan has yet to formally announce his candidature in an election billed as his last moment to fire his last bullet. He was in Mombasa on Thursday and would be heading to Kwale on Friday and Saturday.
Image: DPPS
Political analyst Kazungu Katana on Wednesday said the Coast region is fatigued by opposition politics since 2007 and is now looking for any means possible to be in government in 2022.
Katana, an expert in Coast politics, said the region is up for grabs, noting that despite the agitation to form a regional party, they will eventually back Raila or Ruto.
“ODM has for a very long time been the party of choice in the region but the wind of change is sweeping across Coast as is happening in other regions. Coast people should unite as a bloc so they can have strong bargaining power in the next government,” Katana told the Star on the phone.
“But the problem is how to achieve it. Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has been clear and forthright that Coast should have a vehicle of its own, while his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho is opposed to the idea.”
Kingi now says he wants an alliance of Coast parties, adding a new outfit is legally impossible to form now.
Katana noted, “Ruto stands a good chance of endearing himself to the region but he has used the wrong approach.”
For ODM, Katana said, Raila has “not reciprocated to the people despite massive support they have given him.
“If Ruto plays it well, which he is not doing, he has chances. For Raila, the Coast region has supported him since 2007 but they are now fed up with ODM,” he said.
For the last four years, Ruto has managed to woo some of Raila’s allies in the region. ODM lawmakers who now back the DP’s 2022 State House bid include Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), Benjamin Tayari (Kinango) and Paul Katana (Kaloleni).
Other leaders in the larger Coast working with the DP include Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya, MPs Mohamed Ali (Nyali), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga), Ali Wario (Bura), Shariff Athman ( Lamu East) and Feisal Bader (Msambweni).
Also reading from his script are Haika Mizighi (Woman Rep, Taita Taveta), Rehema Hassan (Woman Rep, Tana River) and former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.
Image: DPPS
Bura MP Wario said the “region started shifting to Ruto because of his commitment to the issues of the region."
He said other political parties betrayed the trust that residents accorded them.
“Politics is about the interests of communities we represent. The footprints of developments we have witnessed in Tana River, be it schools, roads and electricity, are courtesy of Ruto,” he said.
“We are a community that appreciates people. What the Deputy President has done is outstanding and very visible on the ground and that is why we have chosen to stand with him."
Ruto is expected to traverse Kilifi county on March 19. He will be a chief guest in a youth and women's empowerment event.
On Saturday, he will take his campaign to Tana River then land in Lamu on Sunday.
Baya, a close ally of Kilifi Governor Amason King, said the region is shifting to Ruto because of his drive to change the economic status of ordinary Kenyans.
“We are past empty rhetoric. Kenyans want a leader with solid history in transforming the lives of the people and that man is William Ruto,” he said.
Baya said the people of Coast are "tired of being taken for granted by an individual who has been using their support for their own interest.
"We have decided and resolved that enough is enough. The DP has demonstrated over time that he is a true leader committed to development of every part of Kenya," he said.
Lamu senator Anwar Loitiptip, who will be hosting the DP, said, "The hustler movement has become popular in the region."
He said Ruto's empowerment of hustlers should not be misconstrued to be fanning class wars.
"The Deputy President has been on nationwide tours engaging people on shared prosperity. Loved by many, the hustler narrative is gaining momentum," he said.
"The movement should not be taken to refer to an uprising of the poor against the rich. As a country, we have had lessons both good and bad, and never shall we be reduced to class wars. We believe in a revolution of empowerment."
But Mvita MP Abdulswammad Nassir (ODM) said Ruto still has a long way to go to penetrate Coast.
"It is not happening soon. Coast people have their own issues and they will always find the right leadership to address them," he told the Star.
Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi said ODM remains the only party that can champion the economic challenges facing the region. He said ODM has been winning the presidency but its victory is stolen, hence. it has not been in a position to conclusively fix the problems of the region.
"We have been supporting ODM because it is the voice of our challenges. We have been winning elections but then the victory goes elsewhere. That has been the predicament and it was our dream that, with our government, we will be able to change the scenario and narrative of our region," Mwinyi said.
He noted that a serious presidential candidate cannot ignore the Coast "as it is a region that has the magic numbers for the 50+1 victory.
"It is one important region that nobody who is serious in politics can afford to ignore," he said.
He said Ruto has been in government and has not shown commitment to addressing the issues affecting the region.
"Coast has always been denied several opportunities and no national leader who has been in government has ever addressed any of these challenges," Mwinyi said.
"Even right now, everybody coming down to Coast to ask for votes still makes promises that they will solve problems when they win power. The fact is that they know what is ailing the Coast but do not have the goodwill and the heart and intentions of ever solving or assisting us solve our problems."