Now Uhuru starts Kilifi tour

What you need to know:

  • The Malindi visit signals the significance that Jubilee attaches to winning the by-election in the constituency, where residents go to the ballot on March 7 to fill the seat left vacant by the recent appointment to the Cabinet of former MP Dan Kazungu. Mr Kazungu was an ODM MP.
  • On Monday, Mr Kenyatta is expected to launch the Baricho Water Works, which serve Mombasa, Kilifi North, Magarini and Malindi.
  • Further, the President is expected to issue some 2,554 title deeds to land owners in various parts of Kilifi County.
  • Later in the week, President Kenyatta is likely to issue another batch of 8,939 title deeds in Kwale and 5,121 in Taita Taveta.
  • Mr Kenyatta’s presence has taken coastal politics by storm and ruffled feathers in the region, which voted for the Orange Democratic Party almost to a man in the last elections.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to start his tour of Kilifi County on Sunday with a visit to Malindi for the first time since he went down to the Coast three weeks ago.

The Malindi visit signals the significance that Jubilee attaches to winning the by-election in the constituency, where residents go to the ballot on March 7 to fill the seat left vacant by the recent appointment to the Cabinet of former MP Dan Kazungu. Mr Kazungu was an ODM MP.

Those privy to the President’s programme say he is scheduled to attend a church service in town.

On Monday, Mr Kenyatta is expected to launch the Baricho Water Works, which serve Mombasa, Kilifi North, Magarini and Malindi.

Further, the President is expected to issue some 2,554 title deeds to land owners in various parts of Kilifi County.

Later in the week, President Kenyatta is likely to issue another batch of 8,939 title deeds in Kwale and 5,121 in Taita Taveta.

VISIT RUFFLES FEATHERS

Mr Kenyatta’s presence has taken coastal politics by storm and ruffled feathers in the region, which voted for the Orange Democratic Party almost to a man in the last elections.

He arrived in Mombasa on December 24 and spent a quiet holiday with his family after which he started working from State House, as well as presiding over several functions to do with infrastructure, land, power and water.

It is from these podiums that the President has dished out goodies to all the counties.

He started off in Lamu and Mombasa, where the government achieved a key election pledge after he issued title deeds to occupiers of land that had been in dispute for close to 20 years.

Although the President’s focus has been implementation of his administration’s pledges, observers say he is also casting an eye on the Malindi seat.

If Jubilee captures this seat, it will be the only one the coalition has in the county.

PREFERRED CANDIDATE

And although they are yet to make a formal announcement, Jubilee has settled on Mr Peter Charo, a banker.

Mr Charo has also not gone public with his party of choice. Already, Mr Charo has emerged among the top candidates “vetted” by a council of elders from the county.

In making his foray, the President appears to be tactically eroding ODM’s influence in the region.

Jubilee operatives who spoke to the Sunday Nation said that, having suffered what they saw as a humiliation in Kajiado Central’s by-election, the Malindi battle has to be fought differently.

“The President’s long stay is on the regional development agenda but the eye is also trained on the Malindi seat as Jubilee scouts for the most popular candidate to win the poll squarely,” says a leader who declined to be named.

“The battle for political supremacy is twofold - between Jubilee and Cord and between Governor Amason Kingi and Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro.

Whichever coalition emerges victorious, that could be the same story in 2017,” the source added.

KILIFI POINT-MAN

Mr Mung’aro leads ODM rebel MPs from the region and is widely seen as President Kenyatta’s point-man.

He has accompanied the President at almost all his functions, including meeting delegations from other counties at State House.

Pwani University lecturer Rocha Chimera says that for the President to woo the Coastal vote-bloc, he should just fulfil the Jubilee manifesto and the promises made to the region.

In his view, if President Kenyatta can complete all the projects promised ahead of the next General Election, he will be able to garner more votes from the region compared with what he got in 2013.

“On the land front, he is on the right track. So what he needs to do is to complete the Dongo Kundu project, improve on infrastructure and health services, and then revive defunct factories or schemes — he will not need to look over his shoulder come 2017,” Prof Chimera says.

Revival of the stalled Kilifi Cashew Nut Factory and the Mariakani Milk Scheme should be part and parcel of the development issues worthy of discussion during the campaigns as the Kilifi County government has remained silent over their fate.

Although his first week at the Coast was quiet, the President hit top gear thereafter, with a flurry of activities that saw a sizeable number of ODM rebels turn Mombasa State House into their second homes (constituencies).

“The catch of Likoni MP Masoud Mwahima (ODM) before and after the Waitiki Farm saga is a telling sign that Cord is losing its grip on the Coast region,” says the Kenya School of Law deputy director, Prof Morris Mbondenyi.

WANING SUPPORT

The Cord coalition, according to him, has a tall order to regain its waning support as Jubilee makes inroads through addressing pertinent issues, especially issuance of title deeds.

“Cord would have made an indelible mark had the then Lands minister during the grand coalition government and now senator, Mr James Orengo, dealt with the issue of landless people in the region,” he adds

This is in contrast with what President Kenyatta has done in three weeks, where more than 16,000 title deeds will have been issued by next week.

But this does not bother Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho who, through his political adviser Major (rtd) Abdulrahman Idris, notes that what was being done by the national government was “basically” what should be done.

“The President has been here since December but we are not privy to his programme because we are either not consulted or involved in his activities,” he said.

On the few instances where the President and the Governor have shared a podium, Mr Abdulrahman says, this was due to the fact that the projects were either initiated by the county, or the local leaders were invited.

Additional reporting by Njeri Rugene