Nominated leaders eye elective posts

Nominated members of the Senate and the National Assembly are now angling to seek elective positions as an insurance to remain in politics after the 2017 General Election.

Multiple interviews with the Sunday Nation indicated that constituencies were the biggest attraction, but others hope to be senators and Woman Representatives.

Nominations are done through political parties - mostly to represent special interests such as youth or persons with disabilities.

It is, however, difficult to be nominated for more than one term, prompting those picked in the current Parliament to go for elective positions.

There are 20 nominated senators and 12 MPs. Parties nominated members according to their performance in the 2013 elections with TNA, ODM and URP getting the lion’s share.

So far, only one senator has chosen the odd path of seeking to be an elected Member of the County Assembly (MCA). Senator Godliver Omondi has declared interest in Kholera Ward in Matungu Constituency.

JOHNSON SAKAJA

Perhaps the biggest leap will be for TNA chairman Johnson Sakaja who wants to become the Nairobi governor.

He successively pushed the National Assembly to entrench the 30 per cent rule on all government tenders going to special groups in the Public Procurement and Disposable Act.

He also successfully initiated the National Youth Employment Authority Act.

Senator Martha Wangari, who has declared her interest in the Gilgil Constituency seat in Nakuru County, says she has so far used her nomination in the best interest of ordinary citizens. 

She has sponsored several Bills, among them the County Government Amendment Bill, the Self Help Associations Bill, The Employment (Amendment) Bill and the National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill that are in various stages. 

“My people in Gilgil are very far from being developed. Basic things like access to water and infrastructure are all responsibilities of the government. But the representatives have to lobby to be given priority,” she said.

NAISULA LESUUDA

TNA’s Naisula Lesuuda said she will be running for MP in a yet-to-be identified constituency in Samburu County.

“It is not lost on me that if I do win, I will be the first woman from Samburu to achieve such a feat. It will be an inspiration to our young girls that a bright future is within their reach,” she told the Sunday Nation.

Senator Halima Abdille said she will be going for Wajir Woman Representative’s seat. She joined Senate as a 25-year-old having been plucked from the NGO world.

“I had always wanted to be a leader but in 2013 I could not have vied partly because of my age and lack of financial resources,” she said, adding that she had learned a lot from the “pleasures and pressures” of sitting in the Senate.

For Mr Isaac Mwaura, who made history as Kenya’s first MP with albinism, the nomination by ODM has given him the opportunity to push for the retirement age of persons with disabilities from 60 to 65 years and to have the National Youth Service start recruiting persons with disabilities.

“I have done much as a nominated MP. I raised the profile of people with disabilities. I have pushed for amendments in most Bills to accommodate them,” he said. Mr Mwaura said he was turning his focus to raising the profile of Ruiru Constituency in Kiambu County.

“Ruiru people’s voice is not heard. People are crying for better roads, clean water, good education and security,” he said.

Mr Hassan Osman, who is in the National Assembly through UDF, said he wanted to come back to the House as an elected MP in his native Mandera County. On her part, nominated Senator Daisy Kanainza said she will be running in Likuyani constituency, Kakamega County.

Senator Judith Sijeny, who was nominated by the Wiper Democratic Party, is thought to be eyeing the Lang’ata seat in Nairobi.