Muchemi Wachira
3 May 2008
Nairobi — Barely four months after Kenyans witnessed one of the most heated election campaigns since independence, another competition is fast approaching.
This time it will be by-elections in five constituencies.
And like what happened during the campaigns for the General Election last year, ODM and PNU protagonists are expected to lock horns as they go flat out to grab the five parliamentary seats.
They are currently preparing the process of nominating their candidates who are supposed to get the nod from the Electoral Commission of Kenya to enter the parliamentary race.
Every party is expected to have completed the nomination by May 27 while elections will be held on June 11.
It is after the ECK clears the candidates that the real battle will begin.
Both PNU and ODM recently entered into a grand coalition that marked the end of political crisis, which almost plunged the country into anarchy.
Election results
The post election violence was triggered by disputed presidential election results and politicians were blamed for having stoked the fire during their campaigns.
Fighting was reported in most parts of the country especially in towns.
During the skirmishes more than 1,200 people were killed while about 350,000 others were displaced from their homes.
Most of the displaced people are still in refugee camps. They cannot return to their farms, as the situation especially in the Rift Valley and parts of Western Kenya has remained volatile.
The country has just begun to heal after signing of the National Reconciliation and Peace Accord at the beginning of March. The accord saw President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga share power defusing the tension that had engulfed the country threatening to tear it apart.
Only two months since the tension started to subside, another election has come.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Kenneth Marende, has already declared the five seats vacant. They are Embakasi, Ainamoi, Kilgoris, Wajir North and Emuhaya constituencies. The Emuhaya seat fell vacant after Mr Marende, who had been elected on ODM ticket, was picked as Speaker.
Once an MP is elected as Speaker, the law requires that he or she immediately resigns from his parliamentary seat.
The Embakasi and Ainamoi seats in Nairobi and Kericho district respectively fell vacant following the deaths of Mr Melitus Mugabe Were and Mr David Kimutai arap Too. The two had been elected on ODM ticket. They were murdered in two separate incidents in January.
But in Kilgoris the ECK nullified results for the parliamentary elections over irregularities. They did the same for Nairobi's Kamukunji constituency. However ECK's decision to cancel Kamukunji results has been challenged in court.
In Wajir North constituency ECK ordered a repeat of the elections after two candidates tied.
Mr Ali Abdulahi Ibrahim of Kanu and Mr Mohammed Hussein Gabow of ODM garnered 3,675 votes each.
In such a case the two candidates are required to face of again in an election.
The battle for the five parliamentary seats is expected to be a matter of life and death for both ODM and PNU because they need numbers in the August House.
Currently ODM with 99 MPs is ahead of PNU or the so-called Government coalition (PNU/ODM Kenya coalition).
That is why the party triumphed during the elections of the speaker.
So ODM will use all tricks in their books to retain Embakasi, Ainamoi and Emuhaya seats.
Should they lose any of the three, it will be seen as a big political setback. And it will apparently affect the morale of their supporters.
Retaining Ainamoi and Emuhaya may not require much struggle for ODM. The two constituencies are in the Rift Valley and Western provinces strong holds.
Nevertheless retaining Embakasi and Wajir North and to a lesser extent, Kilgoris will be tricky.
PNU would have easily captured Embakasi seat in December if they had done their assignment well. They lost the seat to ODM after their coalition partners decided to field candidates.
Had they fielded one candidate it would not have been difficult to secure the seat since members of the Kikuyu community who are predominantly PNU supporters are the majority.
Same mistake
PNU also did the same mistake in Kasarani constituency, Nairobi. Almost all their coalition partners had a candidate who lost to the well-organised ODM.
Will the PNU alliance repeat the mistake?
"This time round we have decided to field single candidates in each of the five constituencies. We are consulting ODM Kenya to join us in identifying one candidate," PNU secretary general Mr Albert Kamau said.
The party, he said, has formed a by-election steering committee, which will be charged with the work of selecting the best candidate in each of the constituencies.
Despite the move the party principals will have to provide leadership or conduct their preliminaries in a very transparent way.
Only last week Narc Kenya, one of the PNU affiliates announced that they will be fielding their own candidates in the by-election.
The party's organising secretary, Mr Danson Mungatana, visited Emuhaya last week where he made the announcement.
And he told President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga to keep off the by-election.
Some Kanu leaders were enraged by Mr Mungatana's statement. Kanu is another PNU affiliate.
"It is Narc Kenya people who messed us up in the December elections since they made us to lose several seats like Wajir North after they fielded their own candidates to compete against those who had been sponsored by the alliance," Mr David Murathe, a confidant of Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta, said.
"We have all decided that we shall field a single PNU candidate in the five constituencies. But I won't be surprised if Narc Kenya will let us down," Mr Murathe said in a telephone interview.
In Wajir North PNU had sponsored Mr Ibrahim. He tied with Gabow of ODM.
Narc Kenya had fielded Ahmed Maalim Omar who is believed to have spoilt chances for PNU.
The PNU secretary-general Mr Kamau is confident that Mr Mungatana will rethink his plan of fielding Narc Kenya candidates in the by-election.
"This is a matter we shall sort out. We have even listed him (Mr Mungatana) as a member of the by-election steering committee. So I believe we shall eventually field single candidates in all the five constituencies," Mr Kamau said.
Perhaps it will be easier to convince Narc Kenya not to field candidates against the coalition nominees.
PNU's problem will be their defiant partner Safina.
Go it alone
The party, which defied a directive by the alliance to take part in joint nominations during the last year's elections will be fielding candidates independently.
"We will go it alone like we did in the General Election," Safina's national coordinator Mr Dome Wamagata said.
Recently PNU announced that they had picked Mr Ferdinard Waititu as their nominee for Embakasi.
Though ODM is yet to announce their nominee, several candidates have started showing interest.
They include a brother of the slain MP, Mr Julius Were.
Others expected to go for the ODM ticket include Mr Mohamed Sumra. Mr Sumra has been a long-time challenger of former MP David Mwenje who died a month ago.
Should PNU and ODM Kenya combine forces they may frustrate efforts by ODM to retain the seat.
But in politics anything can happen. Recently jailed Mungiki leader Maina Njenga urged followers of the outlawed sect to throw their weight behind ODM.
In Kilgoris, Transmara District, ODM has more following than PNU. Mr Murathe told Saturday Nation that Kanu is trying to compel Mr Julius Sunkuli to step down for Mr Gedion Konchella.
Mr Konchella was the PNU's nominee in the General Election while Kanu had sponsored Mr Sunkuli. With him and Mr Sunkuli splitting votes, ODM will have an upper hand. In the last elections ODM had sponsored Mr Peter Sapalan.
PNU will also have to put its act together if it hopes to win in Wajir North. Last time it is due to the sharing of votes that the party failed to carry the day.
Ainamoi is one of the constituencies, which was affected by post-election violence.
A big number of voters are still in refuge camps in Nakuru and Naivasha.
At least 22 people have shown interest for the seat.
They include Bureti County Council Clerk Onesmus Langat who has since resigned to try his chance. He is a lawyer.
Others are Retired LT Gen John Koech who is brother to the late area MP, Mr Benjamin Langat who works with Kenya Tea Development Authority, Mr Onesmus Langat, who is a lawyer and a Nairobi businessman Mr Paul Chirchir.
There is also Dr Paul Chepkwony , a senior lecturer at Moi University and Micro LAN Chief Executive David Kitur.
Most of them are in ODM.
Shown interest
In Emuhaya, 35 candidates have shown interest and 22 of them will fight for the ODM nomination.
Campaign for the ODM ticket has already started. PNU is likely to support a Ford Kenya candidate, because the party is popular in the area.
So far the person seen as the favourite to secure the ODM nominations is Wilberforce Angatia. Mr Angatia had during the general elections stepped down in favour of Mr Marende when he lost in the ODM preliminaries. PNU has Julius Sikalo Ochiel who lost to Marende during the December 27 election.
Additional reporting by Solo Kiragu.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
