Jubilee behind push for Coast party, Kingi says

By JOSEPH MASHA and NGUMBAO KITHI

Kenya: Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga returns to the country next month from the US to a divided political house in his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

Besides the storm kicked off by Suna East MP Junnet Muhammed to renegotiate the power-sharing deal among member parties of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), plans to register a political party for coastal residents is on course.

Since the botched ODM elections in February, talk has been rife among politicians from the Coast region on the need to form a political vehicle ahead of the 2017 General Election. Such a move would politically hurt Raila most, considering that he enjoys huge support in the region and swept the boards in last year’s polls.

There are claims that such a move is sponsored by politicians allied to the Jubilee Coalition, with the view to carting away Raila’s core political support.

Kilifi County Governor Amason Kingi has raised the red flag with claims that some MPs from the region had been given money by influential personalities in the Jubilee Government to finance their unity, including forming a new party.

ODM’s Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro, who has been fingered as the one behind the manoeuvres, has denied claims that he was being financed by Jubilee. However, he admits to plans to forge for the unity of Coast leaders with the aim of forming their own political party.

Speaking to The Standard On Sunday at Mutangani in Malindi where he had joined his Malindi counterpart Dan Kazungu in talks with squatters on land matters last weekend, Mung’aro stated that the region had previously made unsuccessful attempts to register and nurture strong parties, including Shirikisho.

Formidable opposition

But now, he says, the people are ready for a political outfit that will bring together their leaders.

Separately, the push by Junnet is persuaded by the fact that minority partners of Ford-Kenya and Wiper Democratic Movement have not only grabbed parliamentary leadership positions but have allegedly failed to perform.

“We are not in the business of nurturing political leaders, only for them to decamp a few months to the next General Election. That is why the leaders of minority in the National Assembly (Wiper’s Francis Nyenze) and the Senate (Ford-Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula) must up their game or drop out now,” says Junnet.

The MP’s assertion is apparently informed by previous instances of Raila’s partners, including Deputy President William Ruto, former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, among others, who teamed up with Raila at the ballot but left before the next polls.

 Junnet argues that ODM, with a majority of 95 MPs, is strong enough to run an effective opposition.

At the coast, Mung’aro maintains that political leaders advocating for their unity will try to win the support of other Kenyans to give the new party the face of Kenya.

Face of Kenya

“As of now, we are steering the process ourselves and we are not getting financial support from government or any given tycoon as alleged. But if the opportunity comes by, we will go for it,” said Mungaro

But addressing mourners during the burial of Kaya elder Gunga Baya Thoya at his Jimba Gede home at Watamu, Kilifi County, at the weekend, Kingi said politicians advocating for a Coast were being funded by the Jubilee administration.

Kingi said though the idea was noble, the issue of some politicians being used by influential people in Government was not acceptable.

“I support the move by Coast politicians to have unity and form a party of our own. However, that matter should be the affair of the coastal people and it should not be linked to politicians from the other parts of the country who have their hidden agendas,” he said.

In the meantime, Kilifi County Woman Representative Asha Jumwa has dismissed claims that Coast MPs met and resolved to form a political party for the region.

Jumwa said the claims were mere propaganda by political leaders who are engaged in supremacy battles in the region.

Speaking during a public baraza at Kilifi Primary School yesterday, Jumwa said political leaders from the Coast have themselves to blame for not forming and nurturing local-based political parties.

The MP challenged Mung’aro to come out clearly and tell the coastal people where the MPs met and came up with the idea.

She further challenged Mungaro to table minutes of the meeting purported to have been attended by the coast MPs where they came up with the resolutions.