Quiet revolution taking place in central Kenya’s politics

• POLITICAL ARENA: Realists from region understand that having solicited
  support from other communities before for its own presidential candidates, it might be time to return the favour in 2012

“We have been following people, instead of parties, and now that Raila, the leader of a powerful political party, is coming, everyone is scared,” says Nginyo.

And the fear is not triggered by Odinga, he says, but by the sudden realisation by politicians of central that they have no party of their own to counter the PM’s move in his own strongholds of Nyanza and Western.

Currently, the region’s politics is a cocktail of political parties, some known, others nondescript. While regions like Nyanza can claim to have ODM, Western FORD-K and ODM-K in Ukambani, Central has a long list of parties: PNU, DP, NARC-K, Kanu, GNU, NAPK, NAK ...

And just when the people of the region thought they had enough political movements to chose from, the President’s son, Jimmy Kibaki, has thrown his Simama Kenya into the mix.