The Somali community in Isiolo is considering going for higher seats including fielding a candidate to battle it out with Governor Mohamed Kuti in the 2022 General Elections.
As campaigns continue to gain momentum, the community, which is among the five largest in Isiolo, is keen on forging a united front and joining hands with other communities to enable them achieve their political aspirations.
Having benefited with the deputy governor’s position from 2013 and currently having one elected MCA, the community believes the time is ripe for it to contest for the MCAs, MPs and governor’s seats.
Though the community believes it has the political muscle and resources required to clinch the governor’s seat with the help of other communities, it is the woes the deputy governor Abdi Issa has gone through under Dr Kuti’s leadership that seem to have elicited the thought of going for the top seat.
Mohamed Guleid was side-lined by former governor Godana Doyo in the running of the county government, and the situation is not different for Dr Issa under Dr Kuti.
Isiolo Governor Mohamed Kuti (left) with his deputy Abdi Issa. The deputy governor has largely been side-lined in the running of the county's affairs.
Photo credit: Waweru Wairimu | Nation Media Group
Thus, the Somali community is this time round keen on ensuring they formalise all political agreements so that their representatives are not isolated in future like the two leaders have.
Sources intimated to Nation.Africa that some of the community leaders had approached the elders and tried to persuade them to embrace the idea of fronting a gubernatorial aspirant, eliciting mixed reactions in the revered Somali Council of Elders.
In the event the elders embrace the idea, Dr Issa, who is the community’s supremo, will be cleared to vie against his boss, whose victory observers say will be premised on the alliances the community gets into.
The Nation is aware that plans are underway to create a professional arm to work with the elders in offering political guidance ahead of the 2022 elections.
Though elders remain cagey over the progress of the plans to endorse candidates for several posts, the focus is currently on ensuring that all the 10 clans, including one that defected recently, stay united and speak in one voice.
Efforts to win back the disgruntled clan are ongoing in a bid to ensure the community’s votes are not split.
Somali Council of Elders Chairman Shariff Abdullahi said the process to screen aspirants for various positions have started and that deliberations are underway to ensure a strong team is selected and vetted, based on merit, to represent the community in the elections.
“Discussions are on and we are still getting views from the community so that we separate the weed from the chaff,” Mr Abdullahi said.
Speaking during an interview with Nation.Africa, Mr Abdullahi said their intention is to seize as many elective seats as possible, but maintained that priority is on the Isiolo North MP’s seat.
He insisted the community will not enter into an agreement with any aspirant but elders from respective communities in order to avoid the woes that befell them in the past.
“The current deputy governor has suffered more than his predecessor and to correct such happenings, we will only be engaging elders and lawyers should we need to enter into an agreement,” he noted.
There is contest between the Somali clans over who to be considered for various seats, with some demanding that clans that have never benefited before be considered first.
To clinch the Isiolo North MP’s seat, the community banks on its numbers and an expected vote split among other communities such as Ameru which has two aspirants — education champion Lucy Mworia and Mwenda Thuranira.
“The MP’s seat is an easy one for us considering other communities such as Ameru have fielded more than one candidate,” one of the community leaders who sought anonymity said.
If need be, elders say, the community will forfeit their quest for MCA seats to support aspirants from other tribes on condition that their respective communities support their MP aspirant.
Dr Issa is of the opinion that the governor’s seat be rotational, saying it is not a preserve of certain tribes.
“A Somali candidate will be able to achieve a cosmopolitan balance in Isiolo,” the deputy governor said.
Whether or not the deputy governor will be fronted to vie for the governor’s or MP’s seat, only time will tell, though elders say he is eligible for either seat.
