Obituary: How Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori pulled himself by bootstraps to greatness

The late Suleiman Dori addressing a past rally. [File, Standard]

That he once sold charcoal and later earned the honorific Hon. Dori is an indication that his life was of the grass-to-grace variety. 

He was also not a man of straw as his rebellion against his party ODM would late show.  

Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori who died on Monday at Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa was a man who fitted in many descriptions.

He once fought tears while unveiling a dispensary at his constituency, when he recollected his upbringing in a humble family and struggles to make ends meet.

“My father was a driver, while my mother did odd jobs to make ends meet. My mother used to sell shark fish pieces, charcoal, tea leaves and mabuyu to raise money for food and school fees. All we knew was poverty, poverty and more poverty,” he told the Nairobian in 2017.

In politics, he could have been considered an upcoming icon but to ODM party honchos; he was simply a rebel on the prowl.

Born on October 19, 1977, Dori joined politics and was voted in as Msambweni MP in 2013. While talking to the Nairobian in the interview, the legislator attributed his decision to run on the ODM party ticket to subscribing to party ideals and Odinga’s stand on devolution.

“I had no plans to venture into politics. But I wanted to change the life of my people. For long, we lacked basic amenities like schools, health and water facilities. I joined politics in 2013 and ran for the Msambweni parliamentary seat on an ODM ticket. I chose the party because of its stand on devolution and the aspirations of our leader Raila Odinga,” he said.

Having come to the Parliament under the ODM party, which was under the National Super Alliance Coalition (NASA), Dori joined the ranks of other Coastal MPs in defending their party.

A controversial moment in his career came in 2015 when he was accused of threatening to beat his colleague Zuleikha Hassan Juma in Parliament’s dining room.

As Zuleikha made a formal complaint to Speaker Justin Muturi to take disciplinary action against him, the legislator’s response was:

“I am not a drunkard. I don’t smoke bhang. I am not a mad person. I don’t use drugs. Why would I threaten a lady? I can’t fight with a lady. It was a very cordial conversation about the Kwale incident that Mustafa and Zuleikha were having, and I just commented that if someone loses respect, you never know what the public will do,” he protested.

His fairly abrasive brand of politics would later be seen in 2016 when he took President Uhuru Kenyatta head-on telling him to apologise to Coastal residents for claiming they did vote for him.

“Kwale people should know that the President did not come here because they did not vote for him if the said allegations which are so discriminative are true,” he said, as he told the President to instead apologise to the residents.

Dori beat Gombato-Bongwe MCA Omar Boga for the ODM ticket for the Msambweni MP seat, forcing the latter run as an Independent Candidate.

After winning the seat in the General Election in 2017, his love-affair with Orange party faded as he changed tact shifting allegiance to Deputy President William Ruto together with fellow ODM rebel  Kilifi MP Aisha Jumwa.

He once dared his party leader Raila Odinga to expel him from the party.

"Leadership comes from God and it is only him who can decide if I will still be re-elected. How many people were in ODM during campaigns but still lost the election?" he said.

Dori at the time was banking on the support of Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi, whom they considered welcoming to the rebels. Boga, his rival, was on the other side leading those who called for his ouster from the party.

In February 2019,  the then ODM Secretary-General Dr Agnes Zani told the media that the party was fully in support of taking legal action against the Dori and other rebel MPs for breaching party’s rules. The group had declared support for DP Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.

On March 1, 2019, Dori survived the party’s chop after he was given 60 days to appear before the National Governing Council to defend himself.

“That having received a letter of apology from Hon. Suleiman Dori, the members resolved to defer their decision,” a statement from Edwin Sifuna, ODM Secretary General read.

His bitter-sweet relations with the party later took a low profile after the ODM party shelved the decision to expel him and Jumwa.

Dori died on Monday (today) at Mombasa’s Aga Khan Hospital where he was receiving treatment. He will be buried today evening

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