JOSEPH KANYI | Nation Prime Minister Raila Odinga hugs Mkenya Solidarity Movement candidate for the Kangema by-election John Gathogo Githaiga in the constituency on September 12, 2012. Mr Odinga and Mkenya Solidarity Movement leader Maina Njenga (centre) were in the area to drum up support for Mr Gathogo ahead of the by-election.
By PATRICK NZIOKA pnzioka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, September 13 2012 at 21:00
Posted Thursday, September 13 2012 at 21:00
IN SUMMARY
- Six candidates are seeking to replace former Environment minister in low-key campaigns
With just three days to the Kangema by-election, a visitor to the area will be forgiven for thinking there is no such thing happening. The razzmatazz that accompany elections is completely lacking.
Posters that would normally dot any available space in towns and villages are missing. So are the noisy convoys of candidates.
Not even Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign for TNA candidate Tirus Nyingi Ngahu last week changed anything. It was back to business as usual as soon as his convoy left the constituency.
A day later, the Nation team had to seek out the candidates on phone to get information about their campaigns.
Six candidates are seeking to replace former Environment minister John Michuki, who died in February after representing the area for more than 20 years.
Six candidates
They include TNA’s Ngahu, Mr Samuel Njuguna Mwangi (Mzalendo Saba Saba) and Mr Kimani Mugo (PNU).
Others are Mr John Gathogo (Mkenya Solidarity Movement), Mr Muturi Kigano (Saba Saba Asili) and Mr Simon Mwangi Kamau (United Democratic Forum).
The Orange Democratic Movement and Wiper Democratic Movement have not fielded candidates. ODM is backing Mr Gathogo of MSM and Prime Minister Raila Odinga was in the constituency on Thursday to campaign for him.
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Many residents interviewed attribute the low-key campaigns to a number of factors.
They include the fact that due to the short period between now and the next elections, many view whoever will be elected as a transition MP. As a result, the heavy financial hitters did not come out to vie for the seat.
Some say the by-election in Kangema might end without any complaints of voter bribery and violence. This is contrary to the days when Mr Michuki, for example, faced off with another former area MP Joseph Kamotho before the constituency was split to create Mathioya.
Returning officer Benson Njau told the Nation that there had been no complaints of voter bribery or violence since the campaigns started.
That the by-election is low-key is evident in Mzalendo Saba Saba candidate Njuguna’s campaign. He does not have a car to conduct his campaigns and his party does not even have an office in Kangema.
The Nation team caught up with Mr Njuguna, a Kiria-ini Girls High School teacher, campaigning at Gakira trading centre.
He was optimistic that despite the odds, he would trounce his rivals.
Another reason advanced for the state of affairs is that the iron fist with which Mr Michuki controlled the constituency for so long has instilled fear in the people.
Mr Michuki, they say, was too big for any competition to emerge and apart from his clique of friends, whom he would involve in his campaigns, none of the candidates had been visible in Kangema politics.
Except Saba Saba Asili candidate Kigano and PNU’s Kimani, who have contested before. The other four are first timers in elective politics.
Mr Mugo contested in 2007 but did not present any challenge worth of note to Michuki.
Mr Mugo contested in 2007 but did not present any challenge worth of note to Michuki.
The former Environment minister did not groom any successor and while some expected a member of his family to contest, this was not the case.
His widow, Josephine, endorsed TNA’s Ngahu, before she died last month.
“It seems the constituency is still in shock following the twin loss of our MP and his wife. All these candidates now contesting were not involved in any way in the politics of the area. If there was any, he would automatically clinch the seat,” said an area CDF official, who did not want to be named because of his sensitive position.
Mr Kigano, who contested against Michuki in 1974, says he has not been actively involved in politics since then because the constituency had an able MP who served the people well.
Many believe Mr Michuki influenced the appointment of Mr Kigano as a director of the Kenya Ports Authority.
Kangema constituency has 37,528 registered voters with 13 wards. Muguru location has 16,612 voters while Kanyenyaini has 11,767 and Rwathia 9,149 voters.
Five of the candidates come from Muguru and are expected to split the vote there. The battle will therefore be fought in Kanyenyaini as whoever gets the biggest share of the votes from there will likely emerge the winner.
One of the key issues in the elections is continuity. Candidates the Nation spoke to want to “continue with the good work” by their predecessor.
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They claim they want to complete the projects Mr Michuki started since they will only have three months before the General Election.
Most of these are infrastructure-related, and include tarmacking of rural roads.
Mr Kigano and Mr Kamau said they wanted to complete the projects before they embarked on their own programmes.
CDF use is an another issue in the campaigns with some candidates saying it needs to be restructured. While they acknowledge it has been used well, they complain that residents had not been involved in the way funds were used.
Education bursaries
Mr Njuguna, for instance, said there were more than 50 students who qualified to join the universities but could not due to lack of fees. He said ensuring these students joined university would be his first undertaking.
Mr Kigano concurs, saying that the CDF as it is presently structured in the constituency does not benefit the common man. He said he would dedicate substantial amounts to education bursaries.
Mr Kamau said it was not easy to approach the former minister without passing through “brokers”, a situation that made it difficult for the residents to take part in the running of CDF.
Youth unemployment is another issue dominant in the campaigns. Residents blame this for the rise of criminal gangs like Mungiki.
Mr Michuki clamped hard on Mungiki as Internal Security minister, leading to accusations of extrajudicial killings.
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