3 BIG horses for Nairobi Senator

Battle for Nairobi Senator

From left to right; Maina Njenga, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and Mike Sonko

If you thought that the battle for Nairobi senator would be a 2 horse race, then think again. Controversial former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga has been cleared to contest the seat by the Mkenya Solidarity Movement party.

His remarks on being cleared are even more interesting; “The party chose on me because I have a plan to transform the city and improve the lives of the people of Nairobi,”  Njenga told the press.

If some Nairobians have been throwing up because of the front runner for Nairobi governor, one Ferdinand “rusha mawe” Waititu, then one wonders what they will do when they realize who two of the front runners for Nairobi senator are.

Although I have said that I am with the low-lifes in my political views and thinking, I can imagine a high powered delegation seeking a twin city deal with Nairobi, say from London sitting down with a meeting with governor Waititu and senator Sonko. You can imagine the quality of that conversation. But alas that is for the majority of voters to decide. Since you Nairobians have promoted policies that have encouraged slums over the last 30 years or so, it is time to pay your dues, is it not?

The local media seems to have a policy of giving Njenga a blackout as much as possible and for good reason. People still fear Njenga because to them he still represents the dreaded Mungiki whose signature has always been decapitation.

Like him or hate him, there is no doubt that Njenga will start out as joint favourite with Sonko to be the first senator of the city. The truth is that Njenga still draws huge crowds and will have no problem collecting hundreds of thousands of votes before he even opens his mouth to say a single word.

Nairobi has 1,778,903 verified voters and this is one race that will be impossible to call. Actually it could go to any of the 3 candidates.

Nairobi has a huge number of Mungiki sympathizers who will vote Njenga and in this way he could pip both Sonko and Wanjiru. It is also possible for Sonko to win by a small margin because he too has massive support in the city. A third scenarios is also possible. And that is Sonko and Njenga could split the votes and Wanjiru could then end up winning by a small margin.

At this rate the race for president will be pretty boring in comparison to the battle of Titans that will be going on in Nairobi seeking the governor’s and senatorial seat respectively.

It is now abundantly clear why ODM has been so eager to avoid fielding a Luo candidate for the senatorial seat namely Elizabeth Ongoro who incidentally has booked her place in history books by being the first minister in Kenya to give birth while in office, which happened in November 2011 when she was assistant minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development (see picture at the bottom of this post). What ODM has been doing switching around people and claiming that they are settling disputes is very wrong. Why hold nominations and collect hefty fees from candidates when you know you are going to give somebody a direct nomination? Incidentally when they give direct nominations they should refund all monies spent including campaign cash to all aspirants. That is only fair isn’t it? Anyway I digress.

Ongoro’s candidature would have caused the race for senator to degenerate into a tribal issue. I am not sure what Mrs Ongoro was thinking putting herself up for the seat but clearly she would have lost both the seat and plenty of dignity. Nairobi politics like the politics of any big city is ruthless and certainly not for the feint-hearted.

So which of the 3 candidates will win Nairobi senator? Your guess is as good as mine although I would put my money on Mike Sonko.

 

Immediate former Kasarani MP Elizabeth Ongoro at Nairobi hospital on 15th November 2011 shortly after she gave birth to a boy. The legislator worked until the last day without taking any maternity leave from politics. 

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The Kikuyu question

The problem with blogging in Kenya today is that nobody will allow you to be horseless. So go ahead and brand me but the truth is that I do NOT support any of the two major coalitions. What tribe am I ? Honestly I have no tribe (the truth). My mum was Luhya, my dad was Kamba and I was born in Kisumu, my first born has Kikuyu blood flowing through her veins and can even speak the language fluently.

My personal political view on the presidency is that both Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta are NOT good for Kenya.

I don’t like Mary Wambui because I have a lot of privileged information on what she has been up to in the 10 years that her husband has been in power. BUT I will NOT support anybody who plays around with the will of the people and denies her, her nomination certificate to contest the general elections. We MUST respect the will of the people and I don’t care who you are, the rule applies.

Clearly we have a major problem in our hands as we go into the general elections in a few weeks. The people who suffered the most in the troubles of 2008 were our Kikuyu brothers and sisters indeed as you read this tens of thousands of them are still in camps, refugees in their own country. What can be sadder than that?

Still any criticism you level against Uhuru Kenyatta today is seen as an attack on the Kikuyu community. Why??? When Jomo Kenyatta grabbed large tracts of land what was written on the title deeds? The Kikuyu community?? Nope. The name on the them is Kenyatta. Why then is it seen as an attack on the Kikuyu when we talk about the evil Kenyatta committed when he was in office?

We often talk about Moi’s 24 year misrule. I don’t see my Kalenjin friends coming out red with rage and telling me that I am attacking the Kalenjin community? Why then is it different with the Kikuyu?

The answer is simple. President Kibaki’s presidential campaign in 2007 is the kind of campaign that must never be allowed in our shores ever again. And it seems that we are yet to shake off its’ effects. Public meetings addressed in Kiswahili but campaign managers going round later and speaking to the people in vernacular and telling them that it is a war against the other community. By the time we went into the elections it was a Kikuyu versus the rest of Kenya election. Why???? Why when the Kikuyu have suffered more than any other  community during Kibaki’s tenure? Why when we love our Kikuyu brothers and sisters and live peacefully on the ground with them and even marrying their beautiful lasses without any hassle? Why does it have to be different in politics?

In 1957 a Luo man called Tom Mboya beat a Kikuyu opponent called Munyua Waiyaki for the Nairobi area seat in the Legco. 95% of the voters were Kikuyus. Those days most locals were illiterate or with very poor educational backgrounds if any. Why then should we have a problem in 2013 when we have very educated Kenyans? Have we grown more stupid and tribal with more education?

We urgently need to find a way to ensure that any criticism against Uhuru Kenyatta is NOT seen as an attack on the Kikuyu community. He is an individual seeking high office and we need to interrogate him, we are not interrogating the community he happens to belong to.

Read the other Chris Kumekucha post today; 
Will Sakaja’s inexperience cost TNA the presidency?