As the clock ticks towards next year General Election, Kilifi county has continued to register a number of heightened political activities.
For the past two weeks, the region, once a dominant of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has witnessed a number of political moves that clearly define that it is going to be awash with political activities for the rest of the remaining period until elections.
However, much focus for the Kilifi residents will be on the Governor seat race which has so far attracted about eight aspirants seeking to take over from Governor Amason Kingi who will be ending his second term and as thus exit the top seat at the county.
Those in contest seat are Eng Gideon Saburi (current Deputy Governor), ASAL CAS Gideon Mung’aro, Jimmy Kahindi(Assembly speaker), Aisha Jumwa(Malindi MP), Baha Nguma(Agriculture consultant), Michael Kingi(Magarini MP), Dan Kazungu( Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania) and Dzombo Mbaru(Businessman).
Save for Mr Kazungu who is still serving in Tanzania, the rest have been crisscrossing the county, seeking for votes from the Kilifi electorates.
Kilifi County is home to seven of the nine Mijikenda subtribes and their voting patterns have been a determination for anyone seeking the top seat in the county.
The nine Mijikenda subtribes are the Giriama, Kauma, Chonyi, Kambe, Ribe, Rabai, Jibana, Duruma and Digo.
Out of these nine tribes, Kilifi is home to seven that includes the Giriama, Kauma, Chonyi, Kambe, Ribe, Rabai, Jibana. The Digos and Duruma are predominantly found in the neighbouring Kwale county.
Out of the eight contenders, six are from the larger Giriama tribe, where governor Kingi also fits in.
Eng Dzombo Mbaru comes from the Chonyi sub-tribe while Eng Saburi comes from the Rabai subtribe of the Mijikenda.
While Eng Saburi seeks to take over from his boss and citing experience he gathered as he worked under him, Mr Mung’aro who recently joined Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) from Jubilee would like to wrestle the seat that slipped from him in 2017 when he lost to the incumbent Governor.
Mr Mung’aro emerged far second from Governor Kingi but was later appointed to the cabinet by the Jubilee administration where he has been serving since then.
“I have enough experience to be the next governor because having served under Kingi I know how to do this job,” said Eng Saburi in Kaloleni.
But for Saburi to win this seat, he has to get the backing of the other six subtribes of the Mijikenda with the Giriama taking the cue.
Kilifi has seven sub-counties namely Kilifi South, Kilifi North, Ganze, Magarini, Malindi, Kaloleni and Rabai.
Out of these, Giriama is dominantly in Ganze, Malindi, Kaloleni, Magarini and some parts of Kilifi North. Kilifi South is predominantly Chonyis while Rabai is occupied mostly by Kambe, Ribe and Rabai. Some parts of Kaloleni are also home to Jibana subtribe.
Mr Mung’aro having had a stint for the gubernatorial battle has to rely on his previous setups to win the heart of the voters in the county.
Both Mr Mung’aro and Governor Kingi come from the same Amwamkweha clan of the Giriama subtribe and the two started together in ODM in 2013 when Kingi became the pioneer governor of Kilifi and Mr Mung’aro the Kilifi North MP then.
But with Kingi moving out of ODM to form his own political party and Mr Raila Odinga welcoming back Mr Mung’aro to ODM recently, the shift in ideologies for the two leaders is evidently different.
Last month Mr Odinga welcomed back the CAS to ODM and Mr Mung’aro immediately declared that he will vie for the gubernatorial seat in an ODM ticket. He is expected to battle for the party ticket together with Eng Saburi who has said that he will use the same party to take over Kingi leadership.
But Mung’aro will be facing another battle at his home turf. Mr Baha Nguma, a former Chief officer in the first regime of Governor Kingi’s administration is also in the race for the top seat and the two are neighbours. While Mr Mung’aro comes from Dabaso ward, Mr Nguma comes from the neighbouring Watamu ward.
“There have been calls from the elders in both wards that we sit down and agree to leave the seat to one of us so that Dabaso and Watamu vote in unison. But I am yet to buy that idea because my focus is to serve the people of Kilifi as their Governor,” Mr Nguma said in an interview with Uzalendo News.
The Giriama vote is expected to play a major role because their population is huge and can influence the outcome of the election.
*This article was written by Ramadhan Kambi for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews@gmail.com to submit your story.
