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ERICK OTIENO & ABDALLAH SEIF
THE Magarini by-election that was billed as a test of the political might of Narc Kenya and the Orange Democratic Movement Kenya (ODM-K) ahead of the December General Election has into a nightmare for the parties.
The acrimony that has characterised the nominations of the two parties' candidates in the by-election has fomented divisions within the parties that may take a long time to heal. According to political pundits the schisms that have hit the two main contenders for the forthcoming General Election may witness political alignments.
The nomination of candidates to represent the two parties in the polls slated for May 14 has brought out underlying enmity among leaders of the two parties, especially supremacy battles in the Coast Province since the death of Kiasuni MP Karisa Maitha.
And the divisions that marked the search for candidates could be a clue to what awaits the parties at the nominations for parliamentary and civic candidates for the December polls.
In Narc Kenya, the differences pitting Transport Minister, Ali Chirau Mwakwere and Justice Assistant Minister, Danson Mungatana will negatively impact on the party’s already shaky unity and spill to the General Election where they are expected to play pivotal roles in campaigning for Narc Kenya in entire Coast Province.
While Mungatana (Garsen) wanted Narc Kenya to field a candidate in the by-election his Matuga counterpart Mwakwere rallied behind the immediate former MP, Harrison Kombe who is defending his seat on a Shirikisho ticket.
Mungatana had hit the campaign trail drumming up support for his preferred candidate Franco Esposito, a Kenyan of Italian extract even as other Coast leaders led by Mwakwere insisted on Kombe, a fellow Mijikenda, as their choice.
Yesterday, Mungatana told the Sunday Times that he will not participate in the campaigns and dismissed Shirikisho as a party whose sole aim was to curve out Coast Province from the entire country.
Narc-K had four aspirants battling for its ticket until Thursday when they were invited to State House and prevailed upon to step down for Kombe.
Three of the candidates, Esposito, Rev Mweni Katiso and Simon Kahindi were treated yesterday by the
Vice President, Moody Awori at his Funyula home in Busia where he thanked them for accepting to step down for Kombo.
They were accompanied to the meeting by the party’s interim chairman, Asman Kamama, National Heritage Minister, Rashid Shakombo and the party’s Chief Whip, Jayne Kihara, who is also the Naivasha MP.
Awori on his part noted the move by the three to withdraw from the race was brave, and would go a long way in strengthening the nascent party’s unity in the constituency.
He said their decision to support Kombe was in the spirit of the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which the former MP has been a keen supporter.
But Mungatana while ruling out any wrangling in the party over the by-election maintained Narc-K should not have opted out of the poll in favour of an Opposition party.
He said the tenets of Shirikisho as a party were different from those of Narc-K which preaches the spirit of one nation, one people.“There are no feuds in the party, what we have is a group of people who are trying to push a candidate from the Opposition to be elected,” he said on phone.
In the ODM-K, the nominations exercise that ended yesterday after Jefwa Kingi was declared the winner was marked with violence in various polling station.
Kingi was declared the winner after he garnered 1495 votes against his closest rival, Ahmed M Ali who had 758 votes followed by Stephen Taura (399), Willy Mure (173) and Jeremiah Kadzungu (73). The exercise was characterised by fist fights, and allegations of vote buying across the polling centres.
The search for the party’s candidate brought out political differences between presidential hopefuls Raila Odinga and Kalozo Musyoka with allies of the two leaders campaigning for different candidates.Allies of the two presidential aspirants had positioned themselves in the area just days after the seat was declared vacant with each faction trying to impose a candidate for the party.
Like Mwakwere and Mungatana, the ODM-K debacle pitted Mvita MP, Najib Balala and his Malindi counterpart Lucas Maitha.
The two almost exchanged blows last week at the Malindi Eden Rock Hotel before the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary Mumbi Ngaru following disagreements over the mode of nomination.
Balala was said to be pushing for the direct nomination of Kingi, a lawyer, an idea that did not go down well with Maitha who insisted the party pull out of the race and support the immediate former MP whose election was nullified by court.
Kombe is tipped to win the race following support from parties in the GNU including Ford Kenya whose chairman has pledged to personally campaign for him.
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Source: SUNDAY TIMES
April 22, 2007
THE Magarini by-election that was billed as a test of the political might of Narc Kenya and the Orange Democratic Movement Kenya (ODM-K) ahead of the December General Election has into a nightmare for the parties.
The acrimony that has characterised the nominations of the two parties' candidates in the by-election has fomented divisions within the parties that may take a long time to heal. According to political pundits the schisms that have hit the two main contenders for the forthcoming General Election may witness political alignments.
The nomination of candidates to represent the two parties in the polls slated for May 14 has brought out underlying enmity among leaders of the two parties, especially supremacy battles in the Coast Province since the death of Kiasuni MP Karisa Maitha.
And the divisions that marked the search for candidates could be a clue to what awaits the parties at the nominations for parliamentary and civic candidates for the December polls.
In Narc Kenya, the differences pitting Transport Minister, Ali Chirau Mwakwere and Justice Assistant Minister, Danson Mungatana will negatively impact on the party’s already shaky unity and spill to the General Election where they are expected to play pivotal roles in campaigning for Narc Kenya in entire Coast Province.
While Mungatana (Garsen) wanted Narc Kenya to field a candidate in the by-election his Matuga counterpart Mwakwere rallied behind the immediate former MP, Harrison Kombe who is defending his seat on a Shirikisho ticket.
Mungatana had hit the campaign trail drumming up support for his preferred candidate Franco Esposito, a Kenyan of Italian extract even as other Coast leaders led by Mwakwere insisted on Kombe, a fellow Mijikenda, as their choice.
Yesterday, Mungatana told the Sunday Times that he will not participate in the campaigns and dismissed Shirikisho as a party whose sole aim was to curve out Coast Province from the entire country.
Narc-K had four aspirants battling for its ticket until Thursday when they were invited to State House and prevailed upon to step down for Kombe.
Three of the candidates, Esposito, Rev Mweni Katiso and Simon Kahindi were treated yesterday by the
Vice President, Moody Awori at his Funyula home in Busia where he thanked them for accepting to step down for Kombo.
They were accompanied to the meeting by the party’s interim chairman, Asman Kamama, National Heritage Minister, Rashid Shakombo and the party’s Chief Whip, Jayne Kihara, who is also the Naivasha MP.
Awori on his part noted the move by the three to withdraw from the race was brave, and would go a long way in strengthening the nascent party’s unity in the constituency.
He said their decision to support Kombe was in the spirit of the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which the former MP has been a keen supporter.
But Mungatana while ruling out any wrangling in the party over the by-election maintained Narc-K should not have opted out of the poll in favour of an Opposition party.
He said the tenets of Shirikisho as a party were different from those of Narc-K which preaches the spirit of one nation, one people.“There are no feuds in the party, what we have is a group of people who are trying to push a candidate from the Opposition to be elected,” he said on phone.
In the ODM-K, the nominations exercise that ended yesterday after Jefwa Kingi was declared the winner was marked with violence in various polling station.
Kingi was declared the winner after he garnered 1495 votes against his closest rival, Ahmed M Ali who had 758 votes followed by Stephen Taura (399), Willy Mure (173) and Jeremiah Kadzungu (73). The exercise was characterised by fist fights, and allegations of vote buying across the polling centres.
The search for the party’s candidate brought out political differences between presidential hopefuls Raila Odinga and Kalozo Musyoka with allies of the two leaders campaigning for different candidates.Allies of the two presidential aspirants had positioned themselves in the area just days after the seat was declared vacant with each faction trying to impose a candidate for the party.
Like Mwakwere and Mungatana, the ODM-K debacle pitted Mvita MP, Najib Balala and his Malindi counterpart Lucas Maitha.
The two almost exchanged blows last week at the Malindi Eden Rock Hotel before the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary Mumbi Ngaru following disagreements over the mode of nomination.
Balala was said to be pushing for the direct nomination of Kingi, a lawyer, an idea that did not go down well with Maitha who insisted the party pull out of the race and support the immediate former MP whose election was nullified by court.
Kombe is tipped to win the race following support from parties in the GNU including Ford Kenya whose chairman has pledged to personally campaign for him.
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Source: SUNDAY TIMES
April 22, 2007
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