Tourism minister Najib Balala. Photo/FILE
By MWAKERA MWAJEFA mmwajefa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
The minister’s detractors say he is virtually partyless and largely without a political plan
The recent statement by Tourism minister Najib Balala that ODM is a dictatorial and undemocratic party has left people wondering about his political future.
His offer of a “home” to ODM deputy leader Musalia Madavadi, who he asked to quit ODM, convinced observers that the minister has something up his sleeve.
In a hard-hitting statement last weekend, Mr Balala said the deputy prime minister was wasting his time seeking a presidential ticket against Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
He said there was no possibility of a free and fair nomination process in a party “crowded by the PM’s henchmen” who would only settle for Mr Odinga’s name on the ballot paper.
“What I want to tell my friend Mudavadi is that if he does not have a Plan B, then he should come to me, and I will give him a plan,” he said.
His statement attracted sharp reactions from his rivals in Mombasa County who told him to keep out of the party’s affairs since he ceased to be a member after opting out of its grassroots elections last year.
Deputy national chairman Ramadhan Kajembe said Mr Balala had no right to cast aspersions on the party.
The Environment assistant minister and Changamwe MP said Mr Balala was afraid to go through any nomination process.
Party nominations
“If anything, he has been a barrier to democracy as he never went through any party nominations and would always use his Pentagon position to earn himself political mileage,” Mr Kajembe said.
Since last year, the minister has kept people guessing about his political destination. Initially, he seemed to warm to Eldoret North MP William Ruto, but he drifted away. As the year came to a close, the Mvita MP announced he would form his own party at the beginning of this year, which he has yet to do.
But even as he offered Mr Mudavadi an exit “plan” from ODM, a Mudavadi ally in Mombasa, Maweni councillor Kelvin Lunani, wondered how the Tourism minister could offer the DPM a political party yet he had none.
“It beats logic for a partyless individual to offer a serious presidential candidate a Plan B when he himself is neither here nor there,” Mr Lunani told the Sunday Nation in a telephone interview.
Would not quit
Mr Lunani said the DPM would not quit the party but fight from within to ensure devolution is realised within the framework of the new Constitution.
Last Wednesday, Mr Mudavadi led the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure on a tour of Mombasa. Mr Mudavadi, who chairs the subcommittee, was accompanied by ministers George Saitoti (Internal Security), James Orengo (Lands), Amos Kimunya (Transport), Franklin Bett (Roads) and Musa Sirma (East African Community).
Political analysts believe the tour favoured the Tourism minister, especially when the tide turned against Mr Kajembe over the encroachment on the road section between Makupa Causeway and Changamwe roundabout.
His adversaries
“The subcommittee’s decision to put on notice grabbers of a road reserve meant for expansion of the highway was a plus for Mr Balala against his adversaries who were in tow,” said a politician who sought not to be named so that he could freely comment on the matter.
Mr Kajembe was left counting his losses after the ministers ordered repossession of the road reserve and demolition of the structures constructed on it.
The Roads minister said the government would use the road reserve to ease traffic along the Kibarani section of the highway.
Political rivalry played out before the Cabinet team when Mombasa Mayor Ahmed Mohdhar took on the Tourism minister over his comments about the cleanliness of the coastal city.
“Mombasa cannot prosper under filthy conditions. This is also scaring away potential investors,” Mr Balala retorted.
But the mayor disputed the minister’s position, saying most of the potholed roads did not fall under the jurisdiction of the council, but the ministry of Roads.
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