They dared to dream, now see what that turned into

The just concluded election was like a performance by a magician. With the black hat on the table (ballot box) and a prickly hand inserted in it (ballot paper), no one could tell whether it was a rabbit, a mouse, a banana, a handkerchief or a monkey that was going to be pulled out.

And when the sweat from the queues under the sun had dried, when the thirst had been quenched and the tallying by IEBC finalised, when the dust raised by the celebrations settled down and the tears of the losers dried, what the magician produced was more than just a safety pin... or white mice.

Kenya’s new Parliament will be a collection of politicians from the past, brothers, dotty wives and other curious characters. Aside from the fact most of the established politicians have literally been told to hit the road, the elections have ushered to power the highest number of siblings in the history of the national assembly.

Newcomers have felled unlikely chieftains, idiosyncratic politicians used all sorts of antics to get back their seats — or bag better ones — and shrewd lone-rangers defied party alliances to saunter into the House, leaving the public to spend the next few weeks struggling to pronounce their names and remember the contours on their faces.

Everything is moving on well in the country. The cars are back on the roads, matatu drivers are back with their blue half-coat uniforms, hawkers have dropped the campaign and political merchandise they had last week, but their hands are still full.

Yes, the city is moving, the nation back to its humming nature. Soon, Parliament’s doors will swing open to let in the new sheriffs in town. And boy, what an interesting crop the votes dragged in!

Chip off the block

There are established political families in Kenya that go way back from the days of pre-independence. They have survived from era to era, from president to another, from serving in one position to calling the shots at a different one, from being in Parliament to braving political cold seasons. And this time round, again, they were at it.

The Jomo Kenyatta family has succeeded in achieving what many political families in democratic countries only dream of. To have a father and son serve as the president of a country after being elected by the people is the kind of story that fits film scripts. The son of Jomo has proved that he is a chip off the old block, right to the finger-shaking. Talk of stunting like ma’ daddy. And he stunted with ICC baggage on his back, just as his ol’ man nearly missed his opportunity while incarcerated in Kapenguria.

The brothers

It looked as though political dynasties were out to keep their positions at all cost. Families paraded two or three siblings and worked to see them all in, all the while hoping that, should one lose, at least the other(s) would keep the family name afloat. The trick worked, because four siblings have won National Assembly seats. These are:

The Moi sons

From the Great Rift, two sons of the former president have worked their way to assured political offices for the next five years. Gideon Moi clinched the Baringo Senatorial seat on a Kanu ticket against URP’s Reverend Jackson Kosgey. His elder brother Raymond bagged the Rongai constituency MP’s seat, also on a Kanu ticket, beating URP’s Luka Kigen.

The old Moi seems to be back in the sons. Gideon, especially, did not have his cake in an easy way. Jubilee presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and running mate William Ruto stirred Baringo in a maverick show of high-profile political machismo aimed at getting Gideon’s opponent, Reverend Jackson Kosgey, elected. But the two brothers won, riding the unlikely wave of the red flag and that most-admonished cockerel.

The Wetang’ula sons

Moses Wetang’ula and his brother Tim Wanyonyi have also ridden the political wave to both land positions as the Bungoma senator for Moses and Westlands MP in Nairobi for Tim. The latter, who has been consigned to a wheelchair since 1998 after a bullet from a thug’s gun tore through his spinal cord during a robbery, won the hearts of many through his determination to ride where few would dare.

He now replaces Fred Gumo, who has retired from national politics. For his elder brother Moses, elective politics are familiar territory though, having served as Sirisia MP since 2007. Wetang’ula has held several other previous public positions, which include that of magistrate and chairman of the Electricity Regulatory Board.

The Kajwang’ sons

Former Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ and his younger brother T J Kajwang’ secured both the Homa Bay Senator seat (for Otieno) and Ruaraka MP’s slot (for TJ). Though not from any old political family, a dynasty is brewing here.

The Ntutus

Other notable political brothers who have made it to the next National Assembly are the sons of former paramount chief of the Maasai, Lerionka Ntutu. Patrick and Stephen Ntutu, both flying the URP flag, won the Narok County Senate seat (for Stephen) and Narok MP’s seat (for Patrick).

Just so you know: In Vihiga, Moses Akaranga clinched the governor’s seat while his step-sister Beatrice Adegala landed the county representative post.

A horn from the past

One of the most-talked-about new legislators is Boy Juma Boy, who rose from being a mere shopsteward to the helm of Cotu under both the Jomo Kenyatta and Moi administrations. From Cotu, Boy went on to represent Kwale Central in Parliament for three terms, between 1983 and 1997.

After losing the seat in ’97, he decided to try his luck elsewhere, and that turned out to be deep in the waters of the Indian Ocean, as a fisherman. Now back in the national limelight, the man has proved that a politician, like the proverbial cat, can also have nine lives. He is the new Kwale County Senator.

The running MP

You may have seen him on the tracks, marvelled at the way his sinewy legs carry him round corners, or shed a tear with him when he won the Boston Marathon last year. But Wesley Korir last week proved that he is not all just sprints and heaves and pants; the man can also inspire!

Pitted against the comical and charismatic Joshua Kuttuny as an independent candidate in Cherengany, few expected him to whizz past the dancing jester, but whizz past Kuttuny he did. Triumphantly. At the crossing line, Kuttuny was nowhere to be seen.

Next month, this new — and most unlikely — MP will be back in Boston to defend his title. If he sprints to the tape, as most expect him to, he will become the first MP from anywhere in the world to win a marathon... any marathon.

Hats off for this teenager

If you were to go through Kibiwott Munge’s short CV, the only thing that is likely to catch your eye is that he is a former student of Tenges Boys’ High School, and that he is a miserly 19 years old.

But, as employers will tell you, CVs tend to say little of their owners, because this teenager will now sit in Baringo County Hall as the Lembus Perkera ward representative. What’s more, he campaigned on a shoestring budget, having borrowed a motorcycle from a friend to tour Lembus Perkera seeking votes. He got them, and now his political future looks quite rosy.

Asians in the house

Kenya’s Asian community has largely remained apolitical, choosing instead to build clout through business. But a new wind is blowing across the nation, and that wind has brought us three unlikely results in Kisumu East (well, not so unlikely here), Embakasi South and Imenti.

In terms of numbers, the Asian community in these areas is basically minute, which means for Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir, Embakasi South’s Irshad Sumra and Imenti North’s Abdul Rahim Dawood, this election was not about familial or cultural numbers, but about ideas, policies and promises.

Shabir has done all sorts of things to endear himself to the locals, such as marrying from the region as well as contributing flour to funerals each time the residents are bereaved. He is fond of saying that, despite the light skin, he is a Luo who even fits to be admitted in the council of elders.

Unlike many MPs in the region, he has maintained a strong presence in his constituency, going there almost every weekend to be with his people, to listen to them, laugh with them and cry with them.

Sumra, the new Embakasi South legislator, is perhaps more famous for being a scrap metal dealer than a politician. But that blight did not stop him from gunning for the post, and getting it. He has cut a niche as a politician who enjoys immense support among the youthful voters of Embakasi, and has tried to win the elective post for more than 10 years.

While the above two cases might easily be explained by the fact that the regions are cosmopolitan, they are worlds apart from the hilly and unashamedly rural Imenti North, where Dawood rose from being a councillor to the new MP through Kiraitu Murungi’s APK. The going was rough and tough for him, murky even. He was once labelled an Al-Shabaab sympathiser by some of his competitors, but he still said through, grime or no grime.

And Sonko wept

If you told an elite Nairobi resident two or three years ago that this ‘blinging’ man would become the first Nairobi Senator; you would have been dismissed as a joker. Sonko, real name Mike Mbuvi, jumped into the political scene from God-knows-where and, in no time, became a household name... for all the wrong reasons.

He was controversial and conspicuous from the word go due to his gangster-style wardrobe, complete with massive neck chains and numerous golden rings.

When the purists dug into his past and found out that he had served a jail term, he told them to go hang. “I am reformed,” he said, “and my supporters know that.” He must have been right about his supporters, because the man sailed into Parliament easily to represent his Makadara ‘hood’.

But Parliament introduced him to another world, where people speak polished English full of ‘Sirs’ and ‘Madams’ and ‘Honourables’, where suits were preferred when as polished as the accents, and where the mannerisms of an alley cat would never be allowed to pass.

He was thrown from the hallowed chambers a few times before he caught the drift and mended his ways, but still many could not believe that this gauche man from the wrong side of Nairobi had anything to offer the electorate.

That is why, when he announced that he would be vying for the Nairobi Senatorial position, many laughed him off.

Some have said that Sonko’s rise to the position was aided by the fact that, on the ballot paper, he was the lesser of the devils, but that is now a moot point. What matters is not the calibre of the men and women he trounced to the top, but the fact that, for the next few years, he will be at the centre of mapping the political, social and economic direction of Nairobi.