COUNTY POLITICS: In Kajiado, 'papers dilemma' degenerates into mud fight

No county has been as frenzied by debate on the academic qualification of gubernatorial aspirants as Kajiado, where the “papers dilemma” has degenerated into a mud fight.

It is a four-year-old hangover from the last elections after TNA’s nominee Tarayia ole Kores was disqualified from the race at the last minute to hand ODM’s David Nkedianye a win.

Mr Kores was blocked by a court after a petition challenged his certificates. Jubilee Party appears keen not to repeat the mistake, which explains the fixation among its aspirants with academic qualification.

Mr Kores has again thrown his hat in the ring and will face familiar foes in the Jubilee nominations, namely Daniel Nina Livondo, businessman George Kingori and new entrant former Internal Secretary Joseph ole Lenku.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has already expressed his determination to win the “lost seat” and even held a summit with Kajiado leaders at State House, Nairobi, in December 2016.

To clear the doubt clouding his academic qualification, Mr Kores has furnished journalists with documents showing that he holds an under graduate degree in Bachelor of Development Studies, obtained in July 2016 from Mount Kenya University, is genuine.

The documents also show that between February 1982 and November 1985, he was at Maasai Technical School for secondary school education.

A DIPLOMA

He subsequently joined Wisemen Trainers and Consultants in 2008 and graduated with a diploma in Business Administration in August 2010.

Correspondence from the Commission for Higher Education indicates that the Wisemen Trainers got approval to offer certificate and diploma programmes in July, 2006.

“My academic papers are all valid. The certificate, diploma and university degree were obtained from institutions that operate under the full knowledge of the government. All these can be confirmed with relevant bodies,” he said.

Kajiado is equivalent in size to Rwanda. Whereas Rwanda has a Gross Domestic Product of $8 billion (Sh800 billion), Kajiado receives approximately Sh3.5 billion annually from the central government and an additional Sh517 million in revenue collection.

The county is endowed with the Amboseli National Park and a picturesque view of Mount Kilimanjaro which attract a good number of tourists.

It also has a thriving horticulture sector and cement manufacturing companies.

Its large swathes of land, coupled with its proximity to the capital city, has seen it christened the ‘bedroom of Nairobi’, laying claim to some of the priciest real estate assets in the country.

But operations within the county have not been a smooth sailing.

COUNTY ASSEMBLY

Governor Nkendienye has been weighed down by a hostile County Assembly that is dominated by pro-Jubilee ward reps. TNA won 38 out of the 40 ward seats in the last General Election.

The battle for dominance saw the ward reps snub the governor’s speech on the state of the county last year. The session was only attended by six ward reps.

The incumbent has been touting his development record in his re-election campaign. He is also buoyed by the strong showing of ODM in the two by-elections held in the county.

ODM retained the Kajiado Central parliamentary seat - vacated by Internal Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaiserry and Mosiro Ward despite facing a well-financed Jubilee machinery.

Dr Nkendiaye tenure has however been criticised as being focused in the predominantly Maasai rural areas, considered his stronghold.

It is a strategy that may cost him in the wake of Jubilee onslaught in the urban centers of Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Ngong and Loitoktok that are estimated to host 60 percent of voters in the county.

Clan rivalries have been heightened in the race for the Jubilee ticket.

Relations between the Odomong’i (Red cows) clan and the Orok-kiteng' (Black cows) clan have shaped the politics of Kajiado for decades.

LIKE INCUMBENT

Mr Kores is from the Odomong clan, just like the incumbent Dr Nkendianye.

Former Cabinet Secretary (CS) Joseph ole Lenku and Daniel Nina Livondo are from the Orok-kiteng' clan. A proposed pre-election pact between Mr Kores and Mr Livondo was scuttled after the latter bolted at the last minute.

But clan politics now faces a formidable rival in the form of a significant cosmopolitan vote in urban areas.

In the just concluded mass voter registration, Kajiado recorded 218 per cent newly registered voters, the highest in the country. The majority of them registered in urban centres.

Former CS ole Lenku has been riding on the big name factor.

But the tag is tethered to his shaky tenure at the Interior Ministry that led to him being sacked after the September 2013 attack on Westgate Shopping Mall by al Shabaab militants.

He is however not new to politics. He unsuccessfully ran for the Kajiado South parliamentary seat in 2003 in a by-election occasioned by the death of former minister Geoffrey Parpai.

His candidacy for the Kajiado seat has run into the turbulent waters of perceptions that he lacks the credentials to hold a governor’s office.

DISMISSED CRITICISM

In a recent interview with NTV, he dismissed the criticism as malicious and countered by flaunting his achievements at Harambee House, including rolling out the Nyumba Kumi initiative and introducing the vetting of police officers.

“I see politics as a service. I very strongly feel that I have an opportunity to improve the lives of the people of Kajiado,’ he said adding he has put a strong campaign machinery for the gubernatorial seat.

“I am probably one of the most misunderstood Kenyans, one of the most ridiculed, insulted man in this country. I am only paying a small price of seeking to lead which I am willing to pay,” he said in a recent interview.