Fafi aspirant dismisses elders' endorsement politics

An aspirant for the Fafi parliamentary seat has called on government agencies including security and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to probe the political endorsement policy in north eastern, popularly referred to as “negotiated democracy”, saying it might be a recipe for chaos and mistrust.

Speaking in Bura during his campaign tour, Mr Salah Yakub described the practice as pre-emptive rigging saying it imposes leaders on people without their input after a few elders decide who is to vie for certain posts.

In negotiated democracy, elders prevail upon candidates to step down in favour of others while others are given the green light to contest certain political seats.

CAUSES MISTRUST

Mr Yakub, who is contesting on a Kanu ticket, said the practice has divided people along clan lines and this, he said, has brought mistrust as bigger clans take huge resources at the expense of others.

“The police and NCIC should come in and probe the so-called negotiated democracy because it has enhanced clan differences in the region.

“There will be unequal distribution of resources because [big] clans will take all the resources,” he told journalists.

Abduwak elders have picked Elyas Bare Shill, the incumbent MP for Fafi to defend his seat against his two political rivals, Mr Yakub and Abdikarim Osman Rati.

ELDERS NOT VOTERS

The two have refused to step down in favour of Mr Shill.

Mr Yakub said elders who are making decisions for Fafi people are not voters in the constituency and they do not know the problems of local people, adding that the elders’ decision does not conform to what the common mwananchi wants.

“We have refused this kind of decisions because they have been made in big hotels in Nairobi by people who do not know how Fafi is and are not voters.

“We will not accept and [we] appeal to government agencies to probe,” he added.