Coast residents stuck with swing vote

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The war for the Coast Province vote in the General Election has intensified with the major political blocs positioning themselves for a share of the cake.

With no politician of note in the province contesting the presidency, contestants think the region could provide the important swing vote.
This explains why all the presidential contenders have visited the Coast.

A few weeks ago, a group calling itself the Muslim Leaders Forum met in Mombasa and announced that the Muslims will support ODM flagbearer Raila Odinga. This elicited an immediate response from President Kibaki's side with Narc Kenya chairman Raphael Tuju holding talks with another set of Muslim leaders in Mombasa last week to win their support.
Led by Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya Secretary-general Sheikh Mohamed Dor, the first group said they had decided to back Mr Odinga because he roots for the federal system of government and had pledged to address problems facing the Muslim community.

A section of Muslim leaders have accused the Government of harassing members of their community through indiscriminate arrests and deportation.
But a faction seen to be behind Supkem Coast region chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao said they will support President Kibaki for another term.
The other group expected to chart the path for the Coast voter is the Shirikisho Party which has its roots in the region.

However, the decision on who the group will support had divided it down the middle.
It all started two months ago when a number of Coast MPs, including two Cabinet ministers, joined the party and took over its leadership.
The move by Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and his Tourism and Wildlife counterpart, Mr Morris Dzoro, immediately transformed Shirikisho from a fringe party to a big player in national politics.

Executive council

But the going has been less than smooth for the Mwakwere team since a National Executive Council meeting announced that the party will back President Kibaki.
The party’s founder members differ with the Mwakwere group on two issues.
First, they reckon that Mr Mwakwere position of part leader and that of his deputy, Mr Dzoro, do not exist in the Shirikisho constitution. Due to this, the founders argue that the two have no mandate to chair party meetings.
Secondly, Shirikisho’s key campaign plank is the push for majimbo yet the Kibaki team is opposed to it.

This fact was reinforced during last weekend’s Narc Kenya rally in Mombasa when speakers poured cold water on the majimbo idea, claiming it will balkanise the country into tribal blocs.
Some Shirikisho members say the party should work with Mr Odinga’s Orange which has declared that it will push for implementation of the Bomas Draft constitution which advocates devolution of power to regions.

But the takeover has brought the once moribund party into the national limelight. Mr Mwakwere and Mr Dzoro joined the party together with assistant ministers Joseph Kingi, Anania Mwaboza and MP Abdalla Ngozi.
Before their defection from Narc-Kenya, Mr Harrison Kombe was the only MP allied to Shirikisho.

For a party that had been shunned, its transformation could easily be seen in the manner other Coastal leaders like Mvita MP Najib Balala reacted.
After the break up of ODM Kenya, Mr Balala approached Shirikisho secretary- general Yusuf Abubakar for an alliance with the Odinga group.
However, the party spelt out conditions under which it can build any alliance.
First, said their would-be partners must agree to let the party singly field candidates for the 21 parliamentary seats in the province.

And if the alliance forms government, the Coastal party should be given key positions such as that of premier proposed in the Bomas Draft.
The tension was heightened when its national director of programmes, Sheikh Ngao, announced that they will back the President. He said the decision was agreed at a National Executive Council meeting held in August.

Back president

“We resolved as NEC to back President Kibaki because of his development record and we are certain that the issues that Shirikisho has been fighting for would be articulated by his government,” said Sheikh Ngao.
But Shirikisho founder member Mwakio Ndau who is now firmly on ODM advised the party against abandoning the majimbo agenda.
“When they brought in Mr Mwakwere and his team in an arrangement that is not in the party structure, we kept quiet but this time round, it is not acceptable for the officials to support President Kibaki who was openly opposed to the federal system of government,” he said.
Party national chairman Mwashengu wa Mwachofi says they had not declared support for any presidential candidate.

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Story by MAZERA NDURYA

Publication Date: 9/13/2007