Sacking throws Balala into political spin as realignments come calling

By Athman Amran

Mvita MP Najib Balala’s split with Prime Minister Raila Odinga may have placed him between a rock and a hard place.

Balala’s only platform as a national leader was yanked from under his feet when Raila sacked him as Tourism minister on Monday.

His perceived Muslim support base is divided on its support for the MP, while all Coast elected ODM MPs have said he dserved the boot.

After falling out with ODM, the Mvita MP cannot expect to be the G7 Coast representative as the alliance has Environment Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, who according to Nairobi University lecturer Tom Ochola, is more representative of the indigenous people than Balala.

"He (Mwakwere) is more representative of the Coast indigenous people than Balala," Ochola says, adding Mwakwere is not only a Muslim, but he also belongs to the Mijikenda, who are the majority.

"Balala was moving around with them (G7 Alliance) and moved away possibly after they realised he was not suitable to represent them at the Coast," Ochola said.

He says Balala could only be remaining with a few sympathisers who may want to drag in the Muslim issue to draw sympathy.

"Raila may have realised this and has propped up Ali Hassan Joho (a Muslim)," Ochola said. Joho, the Kisauni MP, was appointed Transport Assistant minister.

Refuted claims

Balala, who defeated veteran politician Shariff Nassir in 2002, claimed his sacking was a betrayal of Muslims, who had signed a Memorandum of Understanding between them and the PM in 2007. But Muslim leaders immediately refuted this claim.

"This was a political deal and had nothing to do with the appointment of Balala to the Cabinet. The deal was about nomination of Muslims as MPs and councillors, which the PM honoured to the letter," Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) South Coast Chairman Sheikh Hamisi Banda said during Raila’s visit to Mombasa on Wednesday.

Sources told The Standard On Sunday that Balala was almost completing the registration of an outfit, named the Republican Congress Party, which he hopes to use as a vehicle for the General Election.

At a press conference last Wednesday, Balala, who termed his sacking as "betrayal" by Raila said he had since established another party, which he did not name. He also hinted he could be joining the G7. "We have established the political vehicle, but we are still consulting. I will travel all over the country with colleagues and tell them the way to go," Balala said.

With him at the press conference were Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan, his Isiolo South counterpart Abdul Bahari, and nominated MP Sheikh Mohamed Dor, who is CIPK chairman.

Muslim lobbies

Also at his side was the National Muslim Leaders Forum (Namlef) chairman Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi. Namlef, which comprise a number of Muslim organisations, had mobilised Muslims to vote for Raila in the 2007 General Election.

Former Bahari MP Joe Khamisi has also expressed interest in joining forces with Balala. Khamisi had much earlier resigned as first chairman of ODM-Kenya, now Wiper Democratic Party.

Balala had been Raila’s point man at the Coast since he wrestled the Mvita seat from Nassir on a Narc ticket. He had joined Raila’s Liberal Democratic Party, which had transformed into the National Rainbow Coalition to form Narc under President Kibaki to defeat Kanu in 2002.

The relationship between the two began showing some strain in late 2008 after the December ODM Delegates Conference at the Bomas of Kenya when Raila stopped Balala from contesting the chairmanship of the party.

Balala claims the ODM leader allegedly warned him of "dire consequences" if he defied his advice.

Raila also failed to intervene when Kisauni MP Hassan Joho and his ally Mombasa Mayor Ahmed Mohdhar fought Balala in Mombasa over the local council’s leadership.

The PM also failed to intervene when MPs Ramadhan Kajembe (Changamwe) and Masoud Mwahima (Likoni) ganged up against Balala in supremacy wars in Mombasa.

But Balala made things worse for himself by ignoring the Coast Parliamentary Group, which comprises 12 ODM MPs of the 21 elected legislators.This culminated in the three MPs taking advantage of the Mvita MP’s trip abroad to grab all the top ODM posts set aside for the Coast during the NDC without Raila raising a finger.

Close links

Joho got the position of national organising secretary, which he exploited to become even closer to Raila while Kajembe became one of the party’s four vice-chairmen.

Since the NDC, Balala had from 2009 started showing open hostility towards Raila through gravitating around the PM’s rivals – Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.

Balala attended a fundraising for the Mau evictees in November 2009 at a Nairobi hotel, organised by Ruto and Uhuru at a time the Raila-Ruto rift had widened. The Mau conservation issue was being used as a political battlefront. Raila had endorsed the evictions while Ruto opposed them.

At the meeting, the Mvita MP claimed the PM was running ODM like personal property and that the PM had allegedly ‘betrayed’ him.

Signs that Balala was preparing to part ways with Raila also showed in the Mvita MP’s contention that the attendance at the fundraiser was a "reflection of the country’s future political direction".

"You see this high table? This is the future, if you are not here you are not the future," Balala bragged at the fundraising. At the high table were Uhuru and Ruto among others. Balala also began boycotting Raila rallies at the Coast.

Began rebellion

One such rally was in Balala’s constituency. The Mvita MP instead chose to attend a parallel one Ruto hosted in the Rift Valley.

In June, last year, there were, however, some indications the relationship between Raila and Balala would be salvaged.

Balala had invited the PM to lay a foundation stone for the upgrade of Mvita Maternity Clinic.

At the Mvita function, Balala announced his return to ODM and vowed to continue supporting the PM’s quest for president.

"I have always supported Raila. Nobody from outside Coast can come here and lie to us that they can take us to prosperity when we have someone who has always stood by us," said Balala.

Raila had also reconciled Balala with MPs Joho, Kajembe and Mwahima. But Raila’s patience seemed to have run out when Balala recently said he had ditched ODM.