Malindi voters are set to elect their next MP on March 7. The seat fell vacant when Daniel Kazungu was appointed Mining Cabinet Secretary by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Malindi constituency has five wards (Ganda, Malindi Town, Shella, Kakuyuni and Jilore), 58 polling stations and more than 54,811 registered voters as per IEBC records of 2013.
At first, the by-election attracted about 20 aspirants with 12 of them from ODM. The ODM nominations of January 16 ended without final announcement of the winner following complaints of irregularities by one aspirant. Subsequently, after dialogue at Orange House, the ODM Elections Board announced Willy Baraka Mtengo as the party flagbearer.
This leaves the race to two strong aspirants: Cord's Willy Mtengo and Jubilee's Phillip Charo, who was directly nominated.
However, the race is beyond the two candidates. It is about Cord versus Jubilee or Raila Odinga versus Uhuru Kenyatta.
Regionally, it a contest of political supremacy between Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung'aro. At the county level, it is about the gubernatorial succession battle between Mung'aro versus the incumbant Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi.
From my observations, Malindi people don't deserve this by-election. They deserve better; better services, better leadership. Malindi people didn't say in 2013 that they wanted a by- election midway through the term. Instead, they elected their leader expecting him to serve them to 2017. The 10,000 plus people who went to the ballot on March 4, 2013, to elect ODM's Kazungu expected to be served to the end of his term. His appointment as minister was not popular with Malindi people. To some extent it manifests political dishonesty by the ruling coalition and appointing authority as well political betrayal by Kazungu and allied beneficiaries. There are many sons and daughters of Malindi who qualify for Mining CS now that there is constitutional clarity that attempted to separate politics from public service. Why the MP? Why this MP from the opposition party?
Coast is a Cord region. In 2013, Jubilee's presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta got 158,083 votes (19.34 per cent) against Raila Odinga's 612,057 (74.9 per cent). In Kilifi county, Uhuru got only 23,386 votes against Raila's 182,708 votes. Of the seven Kilifi MPs, four (Kilifi North, Kilifi South, Rabai and Malindi) were elected on ODM tickets. Magarini went to URP, Kaloleni to Kadu Asili and Ganze to the Federal Party of Kenya. Of the 26 constituencies in the Coast region, 16 MP were elected through ODM or Cord affiliated parties. Jubilee got five MPs — Taveta's Naomi Shaban (TNA), Bura's Ali Wario (TNA), Garsen's Ibrahim Sane (URP), Magarini's Harison Kombe (URP), and Kinango's Gonzi Rai (TNA). Five MPs were elected from parties not affiliated to either Cord or Jubilee.
Things have changed though. Almost all ODM MPs in Kilifi, save for Rabai's William Kamoti) have defied the party and silently support others mainly in the ruling Jubilee coalition. Recently, the ODM secretariat wrote to two MPs warning them on their increasing disloyalty to the party. It is also believed that a sizeable number MCAs havefollowed suit led by Watamu MCA Ibrahim Matumbo. All this has an implication on the Malindi by-election and the 2017 general election. Whoever wins Malindi seat on March 7, will send a strong political message to local and national political protagonists.
Now two worldviews are pulling apart in the countdown to the by-election. The first is drawn from a popular Jubilee slogan 'Msichague chama, chagueni mtu (don't elect a party, elect a person)'. Jubilee emphasizes the person, his or her strengths and brand. The other worldview premises ODM as a strong political party that is significant in advancing democracy and development in Malindi. One of these slogans is 'Hapa ni chungwa tu'. In this, there is very limited personality profiling of the candidate.
As Jubilee recognises, under the new constitution, aspirants who don't believe in ideals and ideologies of any political party can run as independent candidates. For example, Cherangany MP Wesley Korir and Buuri MP Kinoti Gatobu captured their parliamentary seats as independent candidates. They went to their people as personal brands devoid of any political party conviction or association. They packed their agenda as independent minds and captured the conviction of their voters as individuals. The moment you associate yourself with a coalition or party like Jubilee, then you are telling your voters and supporters: 1. I believe in the ideals and ideologies of this party; 2. this party has served you well thus if you elect me, you are electing this party thus my allegiance will always be with this party whether they wrong you my people or not; 3. when you elect me through this party, I will be loyal, faithful and supportive to party agenda including in parliamentary legislation; even if the party moves an oppressive piece of legislation, I will support it. These are dangerous political commitments most Malindi people are reluctant to commit to. However, no matter how good, focused and sober Charo is, his affiliation to with a party that many Malindi people don't want to associate with will cost him votes. He needs proper strategies and game plans to overturn this mindset.
ODM's worldview is that the party is more important than the personality. Chungwa is the orange in the Orange Democratic Movement. It is a very popular, well organised and structured political party in Kenya today. Chungwa with Wiper and Ford Kenya formed a Cord, the Coalition for Reform and Democracy. At the Coast region, ODM is dominant and the most popular party in Malindi. That is why it attracted 12 candidates. As an insitution, it is not immune to challenges. One of these challenges is growing complaints about how the party handles its nominations — the Malindi ODM nomination is a case in point. ODM's and Cord's ideological framework resonates with the Coast masses. Raila, the party and coalition leader, enjoys massive following from the region. Joho, ODM deputy party leader, is from the Coast — and Mombasa governor to boot. Jubilee will be a hard sell in Malindi, where Uhuru's coalition is testing the waters.
Political parties are an essential component of democracy. By competing in elections and mobilising citizens behind particular visions for society as well as through their performance in the legislature, parties offer citizens meaningful choices in governance, avenues for political participation, and opportunities to shape their country’s future. In many countries, however, political parties fail to respond to citizens’ concerns and are widely distrusted by the public. When public confidence in political parties is compromised, the entire democratic process suffers.
With ODM's consistence and persistence in pushing through societal values and national agendas that are pro-social and popular in the eyes of the masses, there is hope that Kenya's party system can be deeply and durably entrenched in the fabric of society. Malindi is on the brink of proving that. However, ODM's failure is its slow pace to re-brand and re-visualise their candidate as the personality of choice. It has made very weak attempts to directly and confidently respond to some issues raised on Mtengo's record. There is a deliberate attempt in this camp to divert some issues and this reflects negatively on the party.
Mtengo's has been named as a director of Raindrops, a company that signed a long-term contract with the Kilifi county government to collect cess and parking fees. This is the right time for those in county leadership and Mtengo himself to respond to the controversy around this business engagement. Raindrops has been in court battles and the subject of public protests. There are also questions surrounding Mtengo's academic qualifications. Let team Cord face public concerns related to the candidate head on if they are determined to win the seat.
Of the two camps, one is strong in strategy. It has kept most of its game plan cards close to its chest and has orators that can move crowds. The other camp is well resourced but is slightly weak in strategy although it is ambulance chasing. It has laid out its game plan, which its opponents are privy to. This camp lacks orators, and its leaders are in panic mode because voters on the ground are rather unreceptive.
Charles Dunga Chigiri is a resident of Kilifi county.