COUNTY POLITICS: Allegiance shifts in Lamu as aspirants eye elections

Lamu Governor Issa Timamy (left) during the launch of Sh1.3 billion conflict prevention, peace and economic opportunities at Lamu Vocational Training College. Mr Timamy is seeking re-election on an Amani National Congress (ANC) ticket in the August 8 General Election. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Incumbent Governor Issa Timamy is to fight it out with four unopposed aspirants, among them his major political rival Fahim Twaha of Jubilee Party, Mr Swaleh Imu (Wiper), former Lamu County Council chairman Abdalla Fadhil (ODM) and Mr Eliud Kinuthia.
  • In the race for the Woman Rep seat, the incumbent Shakila Abdalla who is also the Wiper Democratic Party Deputy Leader will sweat it out with four other candidates.
  • Mr Timamy’s camp now seems to have received a major boost since Mr Hashim was previously perceived to be among the key point men of Timamy’s major political rival Fahim Twaha of Jubilee.

The list of candidates for political seats in Lamu County in the August 8 General Election is shaping up as party primaries run their course.

Already, there is a line-up of candidates for the governor, woman representative and Lamu East MP positions.

Notably, all candidates for the gubernatorial and Woman Representative positions have received direct tickets from their respective parties.

Incumbent Governor Issa Timamy is to fight it out with four unopposed aspirants, among them his major political rival Fahim Twaha of Jubilee Party, Mr Swaleh Imu (Wiper), former Lamu County Council chairman Abdalla Fadhil (ODM) and Mr Eliud Kinuthia.

In the race for the Woman Rep seat, the incumbent Shakila Abdalla who is also the Wiper Democratic Party Deputy Leader will sweat it out with four other candidates.

DROPPED BID

These are Captain Ruweida Mohamed Obbo (Jubilee), Aisha Nizar Abdalla (ODM), Mariam Abubakar (Maendeleo Chap Chap) and Ms Muthoni Marubu, who recently dropped her bid for MP on Jubilee ticket and opted to vie as an independent candidate.

Three months to the elections, a large number of politicians have opted to run as independent candidates.

Some have joined less influential parties after it became clear that they would not make it through the nominations in the bigger parties.

The most recent incident is the defection of Lamu County Assembly Speaker Mohamed Hashim from Jubilee to Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC), just days to last Wednesday’s Jubilee primaries in the county.

Mr Hashim, who is eyeing the Lamu senatorial seat now on the ANC ticket will battle it out with other senatorial aspirants Hassan Albeity (Wiper), Abdalla Shelali Athman (ODM), lawyer Waihiga Mwaure of Agano Party of Kenya (APK) and the winner in the ongoing Jubilee primaries.

UNNECESSARY CONFLICTS

Among them are the incumbent Abu Chiaba, Nominated MCA Monica Njambi Kirunyu and newcomer Anwar Loitiptip

According to Mr Hashim, his defection to ANC was because he does not want unnecessary conflicts with his political rival and incumbent Senator Abu Chiaba for the Jubilee ticket.

Nonetheless, his decision to join ANC is a great advantage to Lamu Governor Issa Timamy’s re-election bid.

Mr Timamy’s camp now seems to have received a major boost since Mr Hashim was previously perceived to be among the key point men of Timamy’s major political rival Fahim Twaha of Jubilee.

Mr Hashim becomes the third among Mr Twaha’s point men to defect to his opponent’s camp after two others, among them former Lamu West MP Omar Twalib and former Lamu County Council Chairman Mr Raya Famau, declared their support for Governor Timamy in January.

FACE OPPONENTS
In a recent interview with the Nation, Mr Timamy lauded the move by Mr Hashim to join ANC, saying his decision has come at the right time.

“I welcome my friend Hashim to ANC. He is a good leader and I am ready to work with him to move our county forward development wise.

We are prepared to face our opponents and defeat them come August 8 General Election. Even if the elections are held today, we are very okay,” said Mr Timamy.

Candidates lined up for the Lamu West MP’s race include incumbent Julius Ndegwa of Safina Party, Stanley Muthama of Maendeleo Chap Chap and politician Rishad Amana of ODM.

SEEKING ELECTION
The three will be squaring it out with the winner in the ongoing Jubilee Party primaries in Lamu in the parliamentary seat.

The fight is between Mr Abdul Kassim Ahmed and Mrs Anastasia Mwangi.

In Lamu East Constituency, the MP Ali Athman Sharif who defected to Jubilee from his party, the United Democratic Forum (UDF), has already been handed a direct ticket and will be facing ODM’s Shekue Kahale, who has also been given a direct nomination by his party.

An outstanding aspect that is manifesting ahead of this year’s General Election is that a large number of the politicians seeking to be elected are young individuals who are also seeking to feature in the county’s politics, mostly at at the ward level.