Showdown expected in Malindi and Kericho elections

CORD leaders campaign during the last ay of campaign in Malindi town on March 6 2016. (PHOTO BY DENNIS KAVISU)

Voters in Kericho and Malindi go to the polls today in parliamentary by elections that have offered rival Jubilee and CORD coalitions a dress rehearsal for next year's General Election. How the by-elections turn out for the parties is seen as a pointer in terms of political strength ahead of next year's polls.

In Kericho voters will pick their Senator from among six candidates although the contest has narrowed to one between the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) and Kanu candidates.

The county, which has 290,458 registered voters, is electing its representative to the Senate after Charles Keter was appointed Energy Cabinet Secretary by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

In Malindi, names of seven candidates are on the ballot paper but the campaigns are pointing to a two-horse race between JAP and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

About 55,000 voters are registered in the constituency, whose National Assembly seat fell vacant following the appointment of ODM’s Dan Kazungu to the Cabinet.

Yesterday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced it was ready to conduct the twin by-elections that have attracted keen national interest because of the high stakes involved.

By including in his government the Opposition lawmaker, President Kenyatta set up a contest to test JAP’s popularity at the Coast, which largely voted for his main challenger Raila Odinga in the 2013 presidential election.

It has been a month of heated campaigns that have featured political heavyweights from both Jubilee and CORD.

Uhuru was among the first of the heavyweights to campaign for JAP’s Philip Charo against ODM’s William Mtengo. A victory for Charo would reduce the numbers for the Opposition in the National Assembly.

But more significantly, it would mean the ruling coalition is gaining a foothold at the Coast, which is considered an Opposition zone.

 Bolster Campaigns

Rebel CORD MPs including Kilifi North’s Gideon Mung’aro, Idd Mustafa (ODM), Zainab Chidzuga (Kwale), Masoud Mwahima (Likoni MP) and Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) have bolstered Jubilee’s campaigns.

To stem the tide, Raila and his CORD brigade camped in Malindi in the final days of the campaign to ensure the Opposition recaptured the seat to assert its control on the coastal region.

A victory for Mr Mtengo would mean the Opposition still has support despite the goodies doled out to the region by the Government.

In Kericho, the contest has been framed around internal wars within Jubilee.

In the by-election, the deputy president is determined to demonstrate he still has a firm grip on Rift Valley politics.

He has made numerous marathon rallies to Kericho to campaign for JAP’s youthful politician Aaron Cheruiyot. The outcome will either weaken or strengthen his hand in the region ahead of next year’s elections.

Baringo Senator Gideon Moi led the campaigns for Paul Sang. Kanu is keen to stage a comeback and revive its former control of the region’s politics.

A win for Mr Sang would embolden the party to venture into other counties in the vote-rich region. Others in the race are Wycliffe Ng’eno (Maendeleo Democratic Party), Bishop Daniel Tanui (Vision Party), David Mutai (New Democratic Party) and Paul Sigei (UDM).

Voters in the county have been complaining about skewed allocation of resources and State appointments.

Deputy President William Ruto was forced to apologise to local leaders and professionals over the appointment of two principal secretaries and assure that the Government would fulfill pre-election promises made to South Rift residents.

The DP had promised that more than 200km of new roads in the country would be tarmacked at a cost of Sh15 billion.

 Start Working

The delay in the construction of the historical Kapkatet Stadium, which the Government had said would be undertaken at the cost of Sh200 million, has also rattled the Jubilee coalition in the heated campaigns.

None of the projects have taken off, but during the campaign period, Ruto assured residents the projects were on course and that contractors were already on site to start working on some roads.

Observers said the minority ethnic groups in the area, totalling about 58,000 of the registered voters, might be the swing vote.

The groups include teachers and workers on the tea estates, most of whom are registered as voters in Ainamoi constituency, which forms part of Kericho town. Significantly, Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion endorsed Sang’s candidature.

Ainamoi constituency, with a total 59,549 registered voters, is key to all the candidates as it has the second highest number of voters after Bureti, which has 62,930 voters. Sang is from Bureti and has represented the area as MP for two terms.

Belgut constituency is another area with a high number of registered voters. Jubilee’s Cheruiyot comes from the region and might take a sizable chunk of the 53,941 votes in the constituency.

“Some 623 presiding officers and an equal number of deputies have been dispatched to the polling stations. And 1,869 clerks would also be deployed,” said Kericho County IEBC Returning Officer Moses Sunkuli.

The security projection and requirement for the by-election is huge and the commission had therefore asked for 1,389 police officers to be deployed,” Mr Sunkuli added.

It will be interesting to see whether former Kipkelion MP Magerer Langat, who defected from ODM to URP and later to Kanu after losing the JAP primaries, will deliver the vote to Sang.

Soin Sigowet constituency has 37,419 registered voters. The constituency was hived off Belgut, where Mr Keter, the Energy minister and the JAP candidate hail from.

Malindi has five wards with about 33,000 living in Shella and Malindi Town wards. The IEBC vote register indicates that there are 57,000 voters in the constituency and the largest turnout is expected in Shella and Malindi Town wards, where most of the so-called upcountry voters are registered.

The Malindi is race is seen as a proxy war between Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi and Mr Mung’aro, who are sparring for the gubernatorial race next year.

 Guard Stations

Other candidates in Malindi are Kadu Asili’s Reuben Katana, Nelson Gunga (Federal Party of Kenya), Attas Sharrif Ali (Labour Party of Kenya ), Peter Ponda (Chama Cha Uzalendo) and David Mangi of Shirikisho Party of Kenya, who asked his supporters to vote for Charo.

Charo, Mtengo and Katana are ethnic Giriama and hail from Ganda ward, which has 7,000 voters.

Military and paramilitary forces have been deployed to guard polling stations and the tallying centre at Barani, the State and IEBC announced yesterday, sparking protests from the Opposition.

IEBC yesterday said it had also sought assistance from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to provide security if the need arises, as CORD complained of “State intimidation”.

“We have held a meeting with KDF Chief of Staff Samson Mwathethe and he has assured us that he will provide any assistance we will require,” said IEBC North Coast Regional Co-ordinator Amina Soud.

She said extra security would be deployed at HGM Primary School in Kisumu Ndogo, Ganda ward, where IEBC officials were based during the 2012 mock elections.

IEBC said security had also been intensified at Tekaya centre. Sources told The Standard that 20 armed General Service Unit officers would be deployed to the tallying centre.

Yesterday, a heavy contingent of police was seen patrolling the streets of Malindi, but no insecurity incidents were reported.

Mr Kingi, Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho, who is ODM Deputy Party leader, ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba and other CORD leaders accused the State of intimidation. Jubilee leaders were not immediately available for comment.