Raila Odinga reignites Coast campaign amid searing apathy and sibling rivalry

Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga addresses supporters in Voi, Taita Taveta County. [Emmanuel Wanson, Standard]

ODM leader Raila Odinga returned to the Coast yesterday after two months amid mounting faction wars in the party over the list of nominations and unending sibling rivalry in his Azimio-One Kenya coalition.

Of equal concern is the recently released Tifa survey that shows the region has the least percentage of those who will vote. The country average is 70 per cent but the region is tailing at 57 per cent. It is also the region with the highest number of undecided voters at 16 per cent.

Raila last campaigned at the Coast on May 14. Since then, his campaigns at the Coast have been lukewarm and disjointed after Governor Hassan Ali Joho and banker Suleiman Shahbal concentrated with national campaigns.

Joho, Shahbal and Taveta MP Naomi Shaban were appointed to lead Raila’s campaigns at the Coast but after one rally in May they left the task to ODM governor candidates in the six counties.

In Mombasa, Mvita MP, who is also the ODM candidate for the governor seat, Abdulswamad Nassir, Wiper’s team led by Mike Sonko and VDP’s governor candidate Awiti Bolo continue to tear into each other.

“I cannot comment much because Raila’s campaigns in Coast are led by Azimio-One Kenya governor candidates. But Joho, Shahbal and Shaban are coordinating,” said Joho’s former political advisor Major (Rtd) Abdulrahman Idris.

And unlike in 2017 polls,  Raila has less than three billboards in Mombasa and Orange party candidates’ billboards that have been placed in strategic areas of the city do not bear either his or his running mate Martha Karua’s photos.

Yesterday there were heightened activities in major towns at the Coast, especially in Mombasa, where several billboards bearing Raila’s and Karua’s photos were being erected ahead of his visit.

ODM leader Raila Odinga. He last campaigned at the Coast on May 14. [File, Standard]

Although it is not mandatory for politicians to use their presidential candidate’s photos on their posters, Mombasa political analyst Abubakar Yusuf said it has been a tradition in past elections.

According to the campaign itinerary released by the Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign Secretariat Press Secretary Denis Onsarigo, the ODM leader will today tour Kwale before he heads to Mombasa tomorrow.

On Friday he will be in Kilifi. Yesterday he was in Taita Taveta County. In Mombasa, according to sources in ODM, Raila will meet influential leaders of the so-called up-country communities living in the county.

Reports indicate that Raila was concerned about alleged voter apathy among the up-country voting blocs who feel left out in the current lineup of the Azimio coalition candidates in Mombasa.   

“It is like ODM candidates in Mombasa are running away from Raila. They have erected big banners in strategic places in the town that does not even mention him,” said Yusuf who is also a lawyer.

He said aspirants mostly leave out the portrait of their presidential candidates in areas that are hostile to him. Coast has for the last 15 years been regarded as an ODM bastion.

Yusuf said candidates for other elective seats also fail to use their presidential candidate’s picture in place where voters are highly fragmented so that they get support from across the board.

Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir's billboard at Lights in Mombasa County. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

Meanwhile, several factions have also emerged in ODM amid reports that some parliamentary candidates like Changamwe’s Omar Mwinyi were openly campaigning with Independent Ward Rep candidates.

There is no love lost between Omar, who campaigned for Shahbal during the ODM nomination, with Nassir who enjoys the backing of ODM MCA candidates in the county.

Mr Oginga Randiki, an ODM grassroots advisor and Raila’s close ally in the Coast, said that trouble started in ODM during the party nominations that sowed seeds of discord among the voters in Mombasa.

“We must be honest there is a big problem. It started with the bungled nomination exercise where most of our popular candidates were rigged or locked out,” said Randiki.

He added: “It is shocking that until Sunday there were only three billboards of Raila. And we have reports that some ODM county offices like in Mombasa are either dormant or have been closed.”

In an earlier interview, ODM Mombasa branch chairman, Mr Mohamed Khamis alias Dee said although ODM was still popular in the county they were facing challenges in some areas especially in Nyali constituency.