In the run up for the 2017 general election, Jubilee Party ran a formidable campaign against Raila Odinga’s ODM at the Coast.
ODM had in 2013 won all the six governor seats at the Coast and the Jubilee duo of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto was hell-bent to ensure they wrestle the region from Raila’s grip.
Governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Salim Mvurya (Kwale), John Mruttu (Taita Taveta), Hussein Dado (Tana River), Issa Timamy (Lamu) and Amason Kingi (Kilifi) were all elected on ODM ticket in 2013.
Five years later, by the time the 2017 election dust had settled, Raila had lost three governor seats — Kwale, Taita Taveta and Lamu.
Mvurya retained his seat but had decamped to Jubilee, while Mruttu lost to Granton Samboja of Wiper party as Fahim Twaha of Jubilee dislodged and Timamy.
In Tana River, Dado, who had decamped to Jubilee lost his seat to Dhado Godana, who came in with ODM.
Jubilee had finally succeeded in winning two governor slots in a region, which was perceived to be an opposition stronghold.
Fast forward to 2021, Governor Kingi, whose region voted overwhelmingly for Raila in 2013 and 2017, has started a fierce campaign to rally the region to have its own party.
Raila differed sharply with Kingi over the push for the Coast party or an alliance of the region's parties.
In April, during a rally to popularise the Building the Bridges Initiative after the six coastal assemblies passed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, Raila and Kingi faced off in Ganze, Kilifi.
Raila said he played a key role in Kingi's political success, but the Kilifi governor now wanted to abandon him when he needed him most.
“I was with him in 2007. I supported him for governor and now that his term is ending, I wanted him to come to national politics. He now wants to run away. ODM was good for him all along, but with 2022 approaching, he is now saying another party is better,” Raila said at the time.
Kingi said there were no plans of forming a new party, but consolidating the existing ones in the region which include Kadu Asili, Shirikisho, Umoja Summit Party of Kenya and the Republican Congress to form a coalition that would drive the region's political and economic agenda.
“Do not give us a bad name. As Coast leaders, we do not want to isolate the region. People should be allowed to form alliances. That is how we will respect each other,” Governor Kingi said.
Joho and a section of Coast leaders opposed Kingi’s push for a coastal party and remained a lone ranger in the push for a homegrown outfit.
Several months later, however, Kingi launched the Pamoja African Alliance, which he has since been popularising in the region.
The party has opened two offices in Mombasa and Kilifi counties.
However, as Raila prepared for the Azimio la Umoja Convention last week, Kingi made an about-turn and declared his support for the ODM leader, saying he rallies behind his initiative to unite Kenyans.
"PAA believes in the unity of this country, irrespective of religion, tribe or political affiliation and that the party will champion and support any effort being made to achieve this objective by including the Azimio la Umoja Initiative," Kingi said in a statement.
“It is for this reason that PAA will join the like-minded political parties at Kasarani Stadium on Friday in an effort to bring this country together,” Kingi added.
He did not, however, show up at Kasarani for the meeting and has not commented on the matter yet.
This week Monday, a section of Coast ODM leaders pushed Kingi to drop his political party, if at all he wants to support Raila’s presidential bid.
The leaders, led by Kilifi County ODM chairperson Teddy Mwambire, welcomed Kingi to Azimio la Umoja, but with conditions that he drops his mission to push for PAA and instead popularise ODM in the region.
“Kingi left, saying that he does not want the Orange ( ODM). He has developed some sore throats and wants to come back for the orange juice. We welcome him to enjoy a sip of the orange juice but he will not have the oranges,” Mwambire said.
In Kilifi, there are already four aspirants who want to take over from Kingi on the ODM ticket.
“I encourage Kingi to stop wasting time on parties whose popularity is diminishing every single day. Come back to ODM fully and get a political lifeline,” Mwambire said.
With Kingi showing strong indications of coming back to ODM, Raila is pretty sure of getting more votes in the region, which has been his support base for the past two elections.
In Taita Taveta, Samboja has shown all indications that he is slowly but surely decamping to ODM. He has hosted Raila twice in region.
He also attended the Azimio Convention in Nairobi.
Early this month, when his Wiper party boss Kalonzo Musyoka accompanied other One Kenya Alliance leaders — Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Gideon Moi (Kanu) — to Taita Taveta, Samboja was conspicuously missing.
His deputy, Majala Mlagui was the one who accompanied the four in the tour of the region.
Dennis Onsarigo, Samboja’s director of communications, said the governor is yet to make any public statement on which party he will vie on again in 2022.
“The governor will look for a party or coalition that will address the issues that are affecting his people. It is still very early to communicate, but we will make a wise decision,” Onsarigo said.
Onsarigo is working with Raila's presidential campaign team, an indication of the direction Samboja might be taking.
Samboja has also developed close relation with Joho, who is ODM's deputy party leader and who has since shelved his presidential ambitions to support Raila.
In Mombasa, whoever will win the ODM nomination ticket between businessman Suleiman Shahbal, Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir and Joho's deputy William Kingi stands a chance to be the next governor.
Professor Hassan Mwakimako, a Pwani University don and a political analyst at the Coast, said despite ODM having a strong presence in the region, Deputy President William Ruto's is slowly making inroads.
“We have seen some governors trooping back to ODM. They believe they have a safe haven in ODM, but do not be surprised if UDA scoops some seats in the region,”Mwakimako said.
The don said even if Kingi succeeds in forming a coalition of coastal parties, the region will have to align itself either to UDA or ODM.
“It is still early to say what the region stands for, who is going to win what or where but after February, we will know where the region is likely to vote for, either for ODM or UDA,” Mwakimako said.
ODM is keen to win all the governor seats in the region and both Raila and Ruto have been making tours to the region in a bid to remain relevant and increase popularity.
The coast region has about two million votes, which are important for any presidential candidate.
