KAZUNGU KATANA: Coast people should vote their conscience

The scramble for 2022 Coast votes has begun in earnest. Leading presidential contenders, Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga have been frequent visitors to the Coast, holding town hall meetings to explain their policies and programmes. The key message from these meetings is the empowerment of communities.

Ruto told his audiences that if elected President in 2022, he would top up the existing National Government Constituency Fund with Sh100 million to every constituency to support small businesses.

Raila said if elected, he would create a government long-term loan, with interest payable after about seven years, to spur economic growth through cottage industries.  

In the war of words and oratory between the two rivals, Ruto’s coastal sojourns have been supplemented by huge financial donations to women and youth groups, and the church. At one meeting with small businesswomen in Kilifi, Ruto donated Sh1.5 million to boost their business fortunes.  

Raila has questioned Ruto’s sources of funds, claiming that it's ‘stolen money’ from government.

The two presidential contenders also differed over the Building Bridges Initiative, which Ruto urged coastal communities to reject, saying it is an attempt to create additional executive positions for particular individuals.

Raila asked the Coast to support the initiative, which he claimed provided additional resources and constituencies to the region.  

Ruto and Raila, however, share the view that the formation of a Coast political party is tribal politics, notwithstanding the fact that both of them are products of tribal parties.

Ruto became deputy president through URP, with roots in Rift Valley, his native region; while Raila rose up the national ladder through Luo-Nyanza based parties, such as NDP and LDP.  

However, in the scramble for the Coast, Raila has an added advantage. The Coast has voted for him and his ODM party in every election since 2007. Now, Raila is facing a revolt from within ODM supporters who are accusing him of neglecting the region.

He is accused of sideling coastal communities in appointments to senior positions in Cabinet, parastatal agencies, and civil and foreign services when he was Prime Minister. He is also accused of being the stumbling block toward the formation of a viable coast political party.

Ruto is also culpable. He is accused of being stingy with the Coast. In the period he has served as Deputy President, Ruto has never appointed persons from the Coast to any positions of significance in the Cabinet, parastatals, and the civil and foreign services.

Politics is local. Each region has its own peculiar interests. In the Coast, the issues to be addressed in the scramble for 2022 votes should reflect the interests and priorities of coastal communities.

These issues include decades-long exclusion from government organs and positions, land injustices, and the revival of industries that stalled during Moi's regime. The industries include the cashew nut factory in Kilifi, bixa in Kwale, and the Mariakani Milk Scheme, which served farmers in Kilifi and Kwale counties.

With the empowerment promises Ruto and Raila made to local communities during their visits here, the need to address these issues cannot be gainsaid. The Coast has an estimated 2.7 million votes that could be used to reject unaccountable leaders, abstract party policies, programmes and slogans.

In the absence of coast politicians vying for the highest office of the land, voters in this region should vote their conscience. The message is that if the Coast does not vote change in 2022, change shall change it. 

Political commentator based at the Coast