Battle lines drawn for northern Kenya

As Kenyans eagerly await Speaker of the National Assembly Francis Ole Kaparo to declare five seats vacant, political parties have gone overdrive in wooing potential aspirants perceived to be strong. Northern Kenya is already in election mood and as Ali Abdi reports, it will take more than strong candidates to win here.
Former President Moi and President Kibaki at Wilson Airport before the bodies of the Marsabit air crash victims were flown to their respective homes.The battle lines for the ‘mini-elections’ in Saku, Laisamis, North Horr and Moyale constituencies have been drawn.
The seats were left vacant following the death of MPs Abdi Tari Sasura (Saku), Titus Ngoyoni (Laisamis), Dr Bonaya Godana (North Horr) and Dr Guracha Galgalo (Moyale) in the April 10 plane crash in Marsabit town. The MPs were among 14 dignitaries who died while on a peace mission to Marsabit. The other MPs killed in the tragedy were Mirugi Kariuki (Nakuru Town) and Lt Gen Abdullahi Aden (East African legislative Assembly).
It is either widows or brothers of the fallen MPs who will face perennial bitter rivals of the former legislators.
The major issue cutting across the four neighbouring constituencies will be banditry and cattle rustling among the dominant Borana, Gabra and Rendille communities.
In North Horr and Moyale, the aspirants will have to contend with the external aggression from both the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels and the Ethiopian security forces.
The Ethiopians often cross into Kenya to kill and steal from the residents and both local leaders and the Government have failed in the past to address the critical issue.
Clan politics and alliances have always significantly contributed to the outcome of elections in all the constituencies.
North Horr: The widow of the late Dr Godana, Sarah is so far the only aspirant in this constituency that is the largest in the country.
A series of meetings held both in Nairobi and North Horr concluded that whoever is proposed from the deceased’s family will go to Parliament unopposed.
This is why Dr Godana’s perennial rival in the last two general elections, Elema Isako Fila of Narc (LDP wing), stepped down for the widow.
Tradition, Fila said, entails that "a woman is allowed to finish what was left undone by her deceased husband".
He noted that anyone outside the family who stands now for the by-election would be viewed as merciless and greedy not only by the elders but the whole Gabra community. Fila would have contested had former Lamu DC Ukur Yattani, who is on further studies in the UK, contested. The administrator, who is viewed as a confidant of the late MP, left the country last weekend after attending the meetings that proposed Sarah.
The sole aspirant will have to deal with recurrent clashes that pit her community against the Borana in Saku, Moyale and southern Ethiopia and the Rendille in Laisamis.
Sarah, also a Gabra, is a retired nurse. Her last place of work before she retired was at Kenyatta National Hospital. She will most probably contest on a Kanu ticket.
Moyale: Three aspirants have so far declared their interest in this constituency that is also a district.
The late area MP’s younger brother, Wario Malla Galgallo, will battle it out with Haji Adan Wachu and Mohammed Malicha Galgalo.
Malla, 27, is single and unlike his elder brother, a Muslim. He completed his studies at the University of Nairobi where he was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree course last December.
In an interview, elders Huqa Guleid, Ibrahim Bakata and Haji Khalif said elders from the district settled on Malla so that he could complete the mandate the late Dr Guracha was given by the voters in 2002.
Just like in the other three constituencies, the pastoralists believe that in the case of death, widows or relatives of the deceased should ‘inherit’ the seat.
‘‘The late MP was elected and his term ends in 2007. He died while on a peace mission. This is why we asked other potential candidates not to vie and instead leave it to the younger brother,’’ said Bakata.
Dr Galgalo’s closest challenger in the last General Election, Mohamud Ali and a leading NGO official, Chachu Tadicha bowed to the ‘traditions’ and opted out of the race.
Ali, a city based quantity surveyor and Tadicha, the coordinator of Community Initiative Facilitation and Assistance (Cifa), were considered heavyweight challengers before they announced their intention not to vie.
Malla comes from the dominant Karayu clan and he heavily relies on sympathy votes especially from his home in Sololo division. Haji Wachu is the secretary general of the influential Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) and is likely contest on a Narc-Kenya ticket.
The 48-year-old father of seven is also a director with the National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee and the National Council for Population and Development. He holds a higher diploma in public administration and law and was a paralegal officer with the High Court in Nairobi for 15 years.
He comes from the equally dominant Warjeeda clan and also hails from Sololo. Mohammed Galgalo was a two-term area MP between 1983-1988 and 1992-1997. He was nominated to Parliament in 1997 by Ford Kenya. He vied on a Narc ticket in 2002 and lost to Dr Galgalo.
The 54-year-old former teacher and education officer hails from Warjeeda clan like Wachu, which could complicate matters for both of them when it comes to sharing votes.
Laisamis: The late Ngoyoni’s widow, Mary will face three other aspirants who include a former MP and a woman.
Mary was proposed by village elders to vie for the seat held by her husband because the deceased’s children are young and in school while his brothers are illiterate. Elders Nkarung’a Bagajo from the late MP’s Sale clan accompanied by his counterparts from Dubsai and Tubcha clans, Henry Debelen and Lengesen Lugi respectively, said the decision to have the widow vie was arrived at following meetings in Kargi, Korr and Merille.
The late MP’s popularity was reflected during the referendum in which the Banana side got 3,681 against Orange’s 1,783. Laisamis was the only constituency that voted for the ‘Yes’ side in northern Kenya.
The widow said at her Nairobi’s South ‘C’ residence that her priority would be to pursue peace with the Rendille neighbours.
‘‘I have a feeling that Marsabit is cursed. All leaders from the district need to bring the locals together. We must repent our sins and pray. Peace is top on my agenda,’’ said Mrs Ngoyoni.
The widow said she would reveal her party after the completion of the mourning period set to be from the third week of this month. Given that her late husband was an assistant minister by the time of his death, Mary is expected to vie on the ruling party’s ticket.
Mary will have to contend with challenges posed by Allyce Esintele Kureiya, the only other woman to vie for the seat in this gender-biased constituency since independence. The 41-year-old is a holder of BEd degree from Kenyatta University and is currently the programme manager of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), in charge of South Rift and Nairobi.
Ms Kureiya has been in the NGO world for the last two decades working among the pastoralists of Isiolo, Samburu, Marsabit and Moyale among other places. She has been particularly involved in capacity building and community development project.
The lady, who wears many hats in the field of leadership, advocacy and management says her candidature represents real hope for the Laisamis residents who have been languishing in poverty, disease and insecurity.
Quoting Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give," the aspirant says she is out to give her all in order to change Laisamis for better in terms of security and general development.
Robert Kochale, who lost to Ngoyoni, also hails from the Sale clan. He however said he was contesting because the prevailing security situation calls for a person with the necessary experience.
He said during his tenure as the area MP between 1992 and 2002, clan clashes with neighbouring tribes were minimal and he wants to use that experience to restore peace in Marsabit. He will vie on a Kanu ticket.
Kochale, who is also a director with the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (Kirdi) will have to struggle to convince Sale elders to vote for him. The clan has also proposed the late Ngoyoni’s widow.
The other candidate reportedly eyeing the seat is US based Joseph Lekuton.
Saku: The battle for Saku will pit two heavyweights — the elder Sasura, Hussein and the man whose chief campaigner he was in the1988 and 1992 general elections, Jarso Jillo Falana (popularly known as "JJ") of LDP.
In the 1997 and 2002 general elections that pitted Sasura and Falana, the campaign periods were marred by violence and scores of their supporters were injured.
Sasura had been a chief and close associate of Falana but they parted ways. Hussein was also close to JJ and was actually assisted to become a DO but they fell out when Sasura became the area MP.
Due to the existing differences between the duo and the one between the deceased and Falana, the battle for Saku is expected to provide more fireworks than ever before.
Hussein, who is yet to decide the party ticket to contest on, holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University and is currently an education officer with the Nairobi City Council.
The Borana followed in an ascending order by the Rendille, Burji and the Gabra predominantly occupy Saku.
The battle will be close as it has always been. In the last elections, the late Sasura polled 5,718 against Falana’s 4,470. The majority of Rendille and Burji voted for Sasura while the Gabra overwhelmingly backed Falana. Sasura got more of the Borana votes.
He will, like his late younger brother, enter into an alliance with the Rendille and Burji and fight to get at least half of the Borana votes. If he succeeds in this, then things might go his way.
On the other hand, things could go Falana’s way if the Borana deny Hussein the sympathy votes and he manages to get some votes from the Burji and Rendille.
Falana, who is a director of the State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, is reportedly also eyeing the Government wing of Narc.
Source: Eastandard.net