Tough race in Kilifi as contesters ready to battle Kingi

Kilifi County Governor Amason Kingi addresses students and parents during a graduation ceremony at Mkwajuni Youth Polytechnic. County secretary Owen Baya expressed confidence that the Kingi administration will win a second term because of its achievements. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Other contestants in the now crowded race are Prof Gabriel Katana and former Ganze MP Francis Baya, who also served as Permanent Secretary in former President Moi’s government.
  • Mr Kambi told Saturday Nation that Mr Kingi got the bulk of his votes from Kaloleni and Rabai constituencies during the last elections. Both areas are his strongholds, he says.

Former Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi’s entry into the race to become Kilifi governor has complicated matters for the Jubilee coalition, whose pointman at the Coast so far has been Mr Gideon Mung’aro.

Even though Mr Kambi said he will seek the post on a Kadu Asili ticket, his presence still poses a challenge for Jubilee.

While Mr Mung’aro, an ODM rebel, is a very close ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Kambi is Deputy President William Ruto’s pointman in the region.

Indeed, it is Mr Ruto’s United Republican Party that nominated him to the Cabinet.

Mr Mung’aro, the Kilifi North MP, lost his posts of ODM National Assembly Chief Whip and Coast Parliamentary Group chairman after he rebelled against the Opposition party.

He has been working with Jubilee, recently helping the party make inroads in the hotly contested Malindi by-election.

Other contestants in the now crowded race are Prof Gabriel Katana and former Ganze MP Francis Baya, who also served as Permanent Secretary in former President Moi’s government.

Kilifi County, whose governor is Mr Amason Kingi, has largely been seen as an ODM zone but the Malindi by-election changed this perception after a bruising battle pitting Philip Charo of Jubilee and Willy Mtengo (ODM).

Mr Mtengo won with 15,582 votes against Mr Charo’s 9,243. Political pundits viewed the margin as having convinced Jubilee that they stand a chance in the region.

Besides the land factor, which is likely to feature as the campaigns for 2017 polls take shape, other development issues such as provision of water and helping small-scale farmers improve their livelihoods might be of significance to the electorate.

Mr Kambi told Saturday Nation that Mr Kingi got the bulk of his votes from Kaloleni and Rabai constituencies during the last elections. Both areas are his strongholds, he says.

“Were it not for my home turf votes, Mr Kingi would not be the governor of this county because generally he performed poorly even in his home constituency Magarini,” he claimed.

The former CS represented the larger Kaloleni Constituency in the National Assembly before it was split into two to create Rabai in 2013.

“What is happening now in the two constituencies in terms of infrastructure development, health sector and education is just the completion of my blueprints as an MP during 2007-2012 tenure,” he said.

CHANGE OF GOVERNANCE
There has been a suggestion that Mr Mung’aro, Prof Katana, Mr Baya and Mr Kambi should decide who should face the incumbent, but the former CS said he is ready for a battle on Kadu Asili.

Mr Mung’aro said his quest for the seat was unstoppable due to poor management of the county resources and rampant corruption by the incumbent’s administration.

Speaking to Saturday Nation on phone on Friday, the rebel ODM legislator expressed fears of total collapse of the county if the governor is left to continue managing its affairs.

“What is on the ground in terms of development cannot consummate the money spend in the last three years and this speaks volume of what is going on there,” he said.

The lawmaker gave an example of how the county misappropriated funds through the purchase of land at Sh34 million in Mtwapa, instead of the market price of Sh12 million.

According to him, the governor was claiming credit for many national government projects.

“My association with the Jubilee government has brought in a lot of goodies for our peopleat the Coast. Soon the President will commission the construction of the 100km Malindi-Sala gate Road,” Mr Mung’aro in a recent interview.

“We have the Sh2 billion Ronald Ngala Utalii college, which is nearing completion in Vipingo and not forgetting the 58km water project, which stretches between Magarini and Kilifi North.”

Prof Katana, who came third after Mr Baya in 2013, said the county has not gained much from devolution.

“My point of departure is what was devolution supposed to bring? Has it been achieved under the current leadership? And will it be achieved still in the same hands? These are fundamental questions that will drive next year’s polls,” he told the Saturday Nation in a telephone interview.

Mr Geoffreyson Khamala, a political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said Mr Kingi as the incumbent is the man to beat.

However, he noted the much publicised corruption allegations after he bought a palatial residence and the delay in construction of the Ronald Ngala College might work against him.

“One of the factors likely to work in his favour is his alignment to the Opposition, which plays the politics of protest. Since there are still feelings of marginalisation in the region, I don’t see any other strong force in form of a party that can trounce ODM,” he says.

A FORMIDABLE FORCE?
County secretary Owen Baya expressed confidence that the Kingi administration will win a second term because of its achievements.

“We have done well in education (especially ECDs), health sector, agriculture, fishing and infrastructure,” he added.

He said more than 140,000 people in Magarini and Ganze sub-counties have access to clean water. The county also started three irrigation schemes to boost its food security.

Mr Kingi’s administration employed more doctors and 200 nurses to improve services in the health sector.

“It also pays them well and as a result Kilifi has not suffered any strikes by health workers unlike many other counties,” said Mr Baya.

However, Ms Naomi Cidi, a critic of Mr Kingi, said he is a weak leader and will face an uphill battle for re-election.

The political analyst noted that the governor will be hard pressed to explain why during the Malindi by-election he was reduced to a minnow as his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho took charge of the ODM campaigns.

“The Malindi debacle exposed the governor’s underbelly as a rudderless individual who cannot be trusted to lead the Cord coalition campaign against its Jubilee rivals,” she added.

The 2013 voting patterns showed that Mr Kingi is vulnerable even in his Magarini home turf.

In Magarini, ODM only won two county ward seats with the remaining four being scooped by Federal Party of Kenya and Chama cha Uzalendo, said Mr Vincent Mwachiro, an official of Mijikenda Council of Elders.

Additional reporting by Kazungu Samuel