Post by Onyango Oloo on Jun 27, 2017 17:00:29 GMT 3
A Digital Exploration by Onyango Oloo
Sometimes one can be mistaken if they confuse Mombasa politics with what is happening all over the Coast.
If it is not Uhuru Kenyatta blocking Governor Joho from attending the Mtongwe Ferry relaunch it is Masoud Mwahima going against Madam Mishi. Occasionally one hears of a broadside from Nyali MP andGovernor aspirant Awiti against Senator Hassan Omar.
When we get a break from Mombasa, we hear about the political fisticuffs pitting Gideon Mungaro who want to wrest the top seat from ODM’s Amason Kingi grant it to Jubilee. Or we hear the rumblings from the Taita Hills between Mruttu and Mwadegu- as if other players at the parliamentary level including my buddy Mwandawiro Mghanga who is vying on an SDP ticket to reclaim his Wundanyi seat do not exist. Occasionally we read about the forays of Mungatana and the musical chairs pitting the two main parties NASA and Jubilee for the much coveted posts of Governor, Senator and Women’s Representative in Tana River County. Lamu, when it is not about LAPSETT or coal it is about Issa Timamy and how he has bagged the top prize for Amani.
Depending on how you intend to vote on August 8th, when it comes to the Kwale gubernatorial seat, you are either putting all your shillings on outgoing Governor Mvurya to hit the tape first for Jubilee or somebody from the NASA family- either the loquacious Chirau Ali Mwakwere for Wiper or Issa Chipera who bagged it for ODM. The conventional wisdom is that it is going to be a two horse race with NASA favoured over Jubilee.
No one is talking about the candidates who have opted to run as “independents”.
Yet Kwale may unleash the breaking story of the August 8th elections when it comes to surprises.
Who has heard of somebody called Sammy Ruwa?
Precious few outside Kwale County.
Well. Mr. Ruwa is the outgoing Speaker of the Kwale County Assembly.
Trained as a lawyer, Sammy Ruwa has two degrees in Commerce and Law. He became an advocate of the Kenya High Court in April 2009 and before he was appointed as the Kwale Speaker he worked for Robinson, Harris and Company as the head of their Mombasa office. From the village of Maledi in Kwale County’s Mwereni Ward he is married and is that father of three daughters. He is the founder of a community-based group called Friends of Kwale and is active in other civic education, youth, women and other grassroots projects.
And he wants to be the next Governor of Kwale.
Only he is vying as an independent candidate.
It is not that he did not mix it with the big boys.
He put his name down for the running during the ODM nominations.
His ardent supporters claim that he should have won and become the ODM candidate but Issa Chipera was named as the winner.
As a further twist to the tale, the grapevine in Kwale says that the outgoing Governor Mvurya who bolted from ODM to pledge allegiance to Jubilee, actually behind the scenes secretly backed Chipera because Mvurya was convinced that when it came to August 8th, he would defeat the ODM nominee who he felt was a novice and politically weak. Whether this is true remains to be seen.
Kwale politics like elsewhere in the country is heavily factored on ethnic and tribal considerations. The two main ethnic groups in Kwale are the Duruma and Digo with a never ending battle of supremacy between the two with the Kambas and other tribes being brought in to balance the two.
For instance Salim Mvurya is a Duruma. He has chosen a Digo woman to be his running mate. Issa Chipera is a Digo has chosen a Duruma; Chirau Mwakwere a Digo is also going with a Duruma, Sammy Ruwa as Duruma is going with a Kamba while Dena a Duruma has chosen a Digo.
Durumas believe the post is theirs and would fiercely oppose a Digo for the post.
The Durumas and Digos are likely to split their votes.
Salim Mvurya because he is seen as a “traitor” having defected to Jubilee in what is seen as a NASA zone has an uphill battle. Mwakwere because of opposition to Raila Odinga when he was part of Kibaki’s PNU may have a hard convincing voters that he has changed. Chipera running on an ODM ticket may on the surface look like the winner but Sammy Ruwa is counting on his record as a Speaker, the widespread belief that he was rigged out during the ODM nominations and his history of community-based work to hold him through.
Who will win though on August 8th?
Observers on the ground are saying we should not be surprised if Sammy Ruwa is announced the victor.
Sometimes one can be mistaken if they confuse Mombasa politics with what is happening all over the Coast.
If it is not Uhuru Kenyatta blocking Governor Joho from attending the Mtongwe Ferry relaunch it is Masoud Mwahima going against Madam Mishi. Occasionally one hears of a broadside from Nyali MP andGovernor aspirant Awiti against Senator Hassan Omar.
When we get a break from Mombasa, we hear about the political fisticuffs pitting Gideon Mungaro who want to wrest the top seat from ODM’s Amason Kingi grant it to Jubilee. Or we hear the rumblings from the Taita Hills between Mruttu and Mwadegu- as if other players at the parliamentary level including my buddy Mwandawiro Mghanga who is vying on an SDP ticket to reclaim his Wundanyi seat do not exist. Occasionally we read about the forays of Mungatana and the musical chairs pitting the two main parties NASA and Jubilee for the much coveted posts of Governor, Senator and Women’s Representative in Tana River County. Lamu, when it is not about LAPSETT or coal it is about Issa Timamy and how he has bagged the top prize for Amani.
Depending on how you intend to vote on August 8th, when it comes to the Kwale gubernatorial seat, you are either putting all your shillings on outgoing Governor Mvurya to hit the tape first for Jubilee or somebody from the NASA family- either the loquacious Chirau Ali Mwakwere for Wiper or Issa Chipera who bagged it for ODM. The conventional wisdom is that it is going to be a two horse race with NASA favoured over Jubilee.
No one is talking about the candidates who have opted to run as “independents”.
Yet Kwale may unleash the breaking story of the August 8th elections when it comes to surprises.
Who has heard of somebody called Sammy Ruwa?
Precious few outside Kwale County.
Well. Mr. Ruwa is the outgoing Speaker of the Kwale County Assembly.
Trained as a lawyer, Sammy Ruwa has two degrees in Commerce and Law. He became an advocate of the Kenya High Court in April 2009 and before he was appointed as the Kwale Speaker he worked for Robinson, Harris and Company as the head of their Mombasa office. From the village of Maledi in Kwale County’s Mwereni Ward he is married and is that father of three daughters. He is the founder of a community-based group called Friends of Kwale and is active in other civic education, youth, women and other grassroots projects.
And he wants to be the next Governor of Kwale.
Only he is vying as an independent candidate.
It is not that he did not mix it with the big boys.
He put his name down for the running during the ODM nominations.
His ardent supporters claim that he should have won and become the ODM candidate but Issa Chipera was named as the winner.
As a further twist to the tale, the grapevine in Kwale says that the outgoing Governor Mvurya who bolted from ODM to pledge allegiance to Jubilee, actually behind the scenes secretly backed Chipera because Mvurya was convinced that when it came to August 8th, he would defeat the ODM nominee who he felt was a novice and politically weak. Whether this is true remains to be seen.
Kwale politics like elsewhere in the country is heavily factored on ethnic and tribal considerations. The two main ethnic groups in Kwale are the Duruma and Digo with a never ending battle of supremacy between the two with the Kambas and other tribes being brought in to balance the two.
For instance Salim Mvurya is a Duruma. He has chosen a Digo woman to be his running mate. Issa Chipera is a Digo has chosen a Duruma; Chirau Mwakwere a Digo is also going with a Duruma, Sammy Ruwa as Duruma is going with a Kamba while Dena a Duruma has chosen a Digo.
Durumas believe the post is theirs and would fiercely oppose a Digo for the post.
The Durumas and Digos are likely to split their votes.
Salim Mvurya because he is seen as a “traitor” having defected to Jubilee in what is seen as a NASA zone has an uphill battle. Mwakwere because of opposition to Raila Odinga when he was part of Kibaki’s PNU may have a hard convincing voters that he has changed. Chipera running on an ODM ticket may on the surface look like the winner but Sammy Ruwa is counting on his record as a Speaker, the widespread belief that he was rigged out during the ODM nominations and his history of community-based work to hold him through.
Who will win though on August 8th?
Observers on the ground are saying we should not be surprised if Sammy Ruwa is announced the victor.
