‘Negotiated democracy’ talks sow seeds of discord in Wajir

A map of Wajir County

By Joe Ombuor

Power struggle, involving Wajir’s three main clans, and lobby for sharing of elective seats among them are the evident factors to define the county politics.

Five aspirants are seeking election as the first governor of the county, which is largely arid and with a population of less than 700,000 – majority of whom are from the Somali ethnic community.

Former Cabinet minister Mohamed Abdi Muhamud (Jubilee alliance), businessman Mohamed Mursal (Kenya National Congress), agriculturalist Abdirahman Maalim Abass (Safina), accountant Ahmed Abdullahi Mohammad (CORD) and university don Mahamed Omar Maalim Bardad (Wiper party) are fighting it out for the Governor’s seat.

There had been an attempt late last year to negotiate a deal involving the various clans for sharing of county positions up for grabs in the March 4 elections.

Deal disowned

The three main clans (Degodia, Ogaden and Anjuran) ostensibly had a mutual agreement that the majority Degodia produces a governor and women’s representative, leaving the posts of senator and deputy governor to be shared by Ogaden and Anjuran clans.

As part of the deal purportedly struck during an elders’ meeting at the Multimedia University College in Nairobi on October 28, Abdullahi, a career accountant, had been endorsed for the position of governor.

Immediate former chairman of the Teachers Service Commission Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein had chaired the council. However, the other contestants have disowned the attempted ‘negotiated democracy’ amid claims of undue patronage by dominant sub-clans.

Mursal and Abass, both from Degodia, have rejected the reported deal, saying the council of elders were misused to endorse a candidate from the Mantan sub-clan that together with the Fai have dominated political affairs in the county since independence.

“We have had enough of these two clans and their imperial tendencies that include utter corruption and nepotism. We need a change so that we can have equity in the distribution of wealth and resources among all clans and sub-clans of Wajir,” says Mursal.

Leaders exclusion

Abass, on his part, claims the process through which Abdullahi was endorsed was not fair, hence the boycott by the rest of the governorship contenders.

“There was no transparency in the exercise and that’s why all the area MPs remained on the periphery,” he says.

Former Cabinet minister Mohamed Abdi Muhamud (Regional Development) who represented Wajir East constituency until 2007 who is said to be eyeing the governor’s seat, was not available for comment, but sources familiar with his dairy say he did not support the Nairobi endorsement by the council elders. He is a member of the dominant Fai sub-clan of the Degodia.

Hussein, who chaired the Nairobi meeting, says their choice was no random affair.

“We analysed all the candidates, scrutinised their strengths, qualifications, experience and integrity, among other factors. We came to the conclusion that Wajir needs a young professional with proven fiscal abilities like Abdullahi to shoulder the important duties of governor,” he says.

He denies allegations the exercise unfairly favoured Abdullahi. “We invited everybody interested in the governor’s seat to be considered for endorsement,” he adds.

Cosmopolitan area

Political analysts say ‘negotiated democracy’ as National Cohesion and Integration Commission chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia calls it, could be a panacea for counties with warring tribal groups or those with ethnic suspicions to avoid massive maginalisation. Such is Wajir County which, though ethnically homogenous, conflict could be spawned by clan allegiance.

Negotiation is premised on diverse ethnic groups or clans agreeing to share political posts ahead of the elections for the sake of cohesion and harmony. 

However, the experiment has hit turbulence in Wajir with its clans and sub-clans feuding as happened in Nakuru where a harmonious sharing permutation is proving illusive between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin communities.

Three of the current serving MPs in Wajir, Cabinet minister Mohamed Elmi (Wajir East), Mohamed Gabow (Wajir North) and Mohamed Sirat (Wajir South) are either in ODM or Wiper (formerly ODM-Kenya), thus giving CORD (a union of the Orange party, Wiper, Ford-Kenya and other parties) a headstart in the March 4 elections.

Wajir East MP Adan Keynan was sponsored by PNU that has been assimilated by Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance party (now in the troubled Jubilee alliance). Two proposed new constituencies – Eldas and Tarbaj – were hived from Wajir West and Wajir East.

Underused resources

Wajir County, better known for its abundance of livestock and scarcity of water, comes across as the richest of the three North Eastern Province counties, a region scarred by insecurity since Kenya Defense Forces invaded Somalia in October 2011 to flash out criminal militia Al Shabaab.

The county covers a largely arid landmass covering an area of 56,685.8 square kilometres sparsely populated by less than 700,000 people. 

The county is rich in limestone deposits suitable for the manufacture of cement. Livestock is an underused asset that the future governor must convert into meat processing and dairy industries to create employment and wealth. Wajir town, the proposed county headquarters, boasts the largest airport in northern Kenya: Wajir International Airport.

To make a case for his candidature, Abass (of the Mantan sub-clan) claims to have played a central role in the preparation of the arid and semi arid lands (Asal) policy that was the catalyst for the creation of the ministry of Northern Kenya and other Arid Areas.

Adult literacy

“I was a leading member of the lobby groups that advocated for the Government to address the needs of northern Kenya such as the tarmacking of the Isiolo/Moyale road,” he says.

Mursal, who is a member of the smaller Gelible sub-clan of the prominent Degodia clan, is a businessman and an educationist with several schools under his management. He promises to improve the low literacy rates in the county, if elected.

Currently, the figures hover between 3.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent for secondary school and university graduates. He also promises to address the problems that have denied a 63 per cent of the population chance to get an education.

Abdullahi, whose leadership skills were evident as early as during his time at Starehe Boys’ Centre, where he served as the first Muslim school captain, says he would make water and the exploration of existing resources his priority, if elected.

Mahamed said he would promote equitable distribution of resources and ensure participation of women and youth and other special groups for the development of the county.

He cited his academic credentials in strategic leadership, change management, good corporate governance and human resource management to root for his bid.

“The county needs management skills, sense of responsibility, integrity and a team player, the qualities I have and after teaching them to my students it is time to implement them,” he added.