Mandera MCAs defect to Kanu after snub by elders

Mandera County Kanu coordinator Hussein Mohamed Osman (in white shirt) and Elwak North MCA Ali Kulane Alio speak to residents in Elwak Town on February 12, 2017. Several MCAs barred by elders from seeking re-election announced their defection to Kanu. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

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By  MANASE OTSIALO

What you need to know:

  • Mr Osman said Kanu national chairman Gideon Moi will soon be touring Mandera to open offices.
  • He said Kanu is a national party that supports democracy, unlike others.
  • The MCAs are facing stiff competition from candidates preferred by the elders.

Several members of the Mandera County Assembly (MCAs) who have been affected by a decree from the region's council of elders barring them from seeking re-election in the August elections have defected to Kanu.

Speaking on Sunday while receiving five of the 18 MCAs, Mandera Kanu coordinator Hussein Mohamed Osman said the party is set to reclaim its lost glory.

Mr Osman said Kanu national chairman Gideon Moi will soon be touring Mandera to open offices.

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“Kanu is a pastoralist (friendly) party that listens and attends to our concerns as livestock keepers,” he said.

Mr Osman said Kanu is a national party that supports democracy, unlike others.

“When [we were] defeated in 2002, Kanu accepted the people’s will unlike other political outfits that led to the 2007/2008 post-election violence,” he said.

CORRUPTION-FREE PARTY

Elwak North MCA Ali Kulane Alio said Kanu, being a corruption-free party, attracted the frustrated lot.

“This party’s leadership has never been mentioned in any corrupt deal since Gideon Moi took over and this is what we want,” he said.

The MCA cited the failed elections for Jubilee interim officers as their reason to desert President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party.

“There is no democracy and fairness within the two main coalitions and we felt Kanu is providing all these,” he said.

The MCAs are facing stiff competition from candidates preferred by elders, forcing them to seek refuge in parties “unreachable by elders”.

"Jubilee has not secured Mandera like it promised and we continued suffering terror attacks affecting all sectors here,” said Mr Alio, the chairman of the assembly's budget committee.

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