Coast leaders split over Mung’aro ouster

KEVIN ODIT | NATION
Coast political leaders after a meeting at the Bahari Beach Hotel on Saturday where they agreed to support Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro against his removal as Minority Chief Whip.

What you need to know:

  • Mr Omar and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho have stood their ground against regional MPs and governors who rebelled against their sponsoring party, ODM, in its push for a referendum on the future of the electoral commission and an increase in the amount of money allocated to counties each year among other demands.
  • Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu, area Woman Representative Joyce Lay and Members of the Taita Taveta County Assembly welcomed the decision to drop Mr Mung’aro.

Cord’s decision to drop Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro as the Minority Chief Whip in the National Assembly has caused a political tailspin at the Coast.

While Taveta politicians have welcomed Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu’s elevation to replace Mr Mung’aro, dissenting Cord governors and legislators have vowed to work with the Jubilee Government in protest.

The Kilifi North MP is also leader of the Coast Parliamentary Group.

Mr Mung’aro said in Mombasa and Kilifi on Saturday that the push for the formation of a regional party would go ahead and warned Mombasa County Senator Hassan Omar against scuttling the quest for Coast unity.

Nothing wrong
Mr Omar and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho have stood their ground against regional MPs and governors who rebelled against their sponsoring party, ODM, in its push for a referendum on the future of the electoral commission and an increase in the amount of money allocated to counties each year among other demands.

Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu, area Woman Representative Joyce Lay and Members of the Taita Taveta County Assembly welcomed the decision to drop Mr Mung’aro.

Mr Mruttu said there was nothing wrong with the position revolving among Coast leaders because it was aimed at sustaining the region’s attachment to the party that sponsored the MPs.

He said it was wrong for politicians from some parts of the region to protest against the new development pegging their argument on an individual.

But in Kilifi, Mr Mung’aro said he was paying the price of seeking regional unity.

“The clamour to consolidate Coast so that we speak with one voice is unstoppable. Those being used by outside forces to destroy our agenda like Hassan Omar will fail miserably,” he said and warned that leaders opposing the unity agenda would be rejected by voters in the 2017 General Election.

He said like-minded Coast leaders would start extensive tours of the region to seek views from voters on the way forward for 2017.

“In two weeks’ time, we shall start a massive Coast tour beginning at Kwale County,” he said. “We will talk to our people and hear their opinions on where they want us to go. This is the road we have decided to take because other regions have taken this region for granted for much too long.”

Mr Mung’aro termed his ouster as a relief, saying he had not been appreciated in ODM.

“Despite working hard for the party, I have not been recognised. In the recent Shela ward by-election, for example, I camped for one week using my own resources to campaign for the party until we got the seat. But nobody wants to see this.”

He said he was not to blame for Cord’s lacklustre performance in Parliament, insisting it was a collective duty.

At Mghange Dawida in Taveta on Saturday, Governor Mruttu said Mr Mung’aro had failed. He complained that the former Whip was not performing his duties well.

Hold talks
“Us here in Taita Taveta did not complain to Cord when they chose Mr Mung’aro to the position and his sympathisers should not criminalise us for accepting the position,” he said.

Mr Mruttu challenged Mr Mung’aro to hold talks with Coast leaders outside the National Assembly over the matter before raising complaints that portray the Coast as divided.

In a separate meeting at the Wundanyi Chief’s Camp, Ms Lay said Mr Mung’aro had failed in his responsibilities and this was not a collective but an individual problem.

“This position was reserved for the Coast and since Mr Mung’aro was one of the senior MPs it has gone to another senior one in the region which is not bad,” she said.

According to her, it would have been wrong if the post had been given to an MP from another region.