Shortly before Nairobi County Azimio deputy governor nominee Philip Kaloki dropped his Makueni gubernatorial bid, he had unsettled Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka by warming up to Governor Kivutha Kibwana.
Talk was rife that the Wiper leader, who was not keen on subjecting Prof Kaloki and Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr to party primaries, had already settled on the senator as Wiper’s candidate for the governor contest.
“We took Prof Kaloki to Nairobi because we didn’t want to lose him,” Mr Musyoka said at Wote Town recently.
He stopped short of revealing that he had made the move to avoid the agony of seeing him walk into the arms of Prof Kibwana, who is the face of the Wiper leader’s critics in the region.
This is just a tip of how the national succession politics and the political rivalry between Mr Musyoka and Prof Kibwana are expected to play out in the Makueni governor race, which has attracted four other aspirants – real estate developer David Masika (ODM), Kibwezi West MP Patrick Musimba (Independent), Emmanuel Mutisya (United Democratic Alliance) and Anderson Mwanza (Independent).
The absence of Prof Kaloki, who comes from Kibwezi East constituency, is seen as a plus for Dr Musimba who is now assumed to have the vote-rich Kibwezi region to himself. Kibwezi East constituency has 57,628 registered voters while Kibwezi West has 80,805.
The two-term MP says he wants to make the county business friendly. Key among his priority areas is revenue generation.
Dr Musimba also plans to raise funds from development agencies to ease water shortage and hunger by promoting climate smart farming, and improve early childhood education.
However, he has to confront a general understanding that the county’s top seats should be distributed across the county. Prof Kibwana comes from Kibwezi West and is seeking the senate seat, while Woman Rep Rose Museo, who is defending her seat, has homes in both Kibwezi West and Kilome constituencies.
Last week, Dr Musimba set tongues wagging when he unveiled Kenya National Union of Teachers National Treasurer James Ndiku, who comes from Kilome, as his running mate, overlooking Mbooni, Makueni and Kaiti constituencies, which are seen as his main challengers’ strongholds.
Mr Kilonzo Jnr comes from the vote-rich Mbooni constituency which has 85,876 voters. History has shown that Mbooni votes in more or less the same way as the neighbouring Kaiti, which has 57,952 registered voters.
The senator debuted in politics following the death of his father, Mutula Kilonzo. Over the years, Mr Kilonzo Jnr has earned both admirers and critics by boldly taking on leaders.
His victims include Prof Kibwana. The senator portrays the governor’s administration as incompetent and corrupt and has pledged to add integrity to service delivery should he become the county boss, a pledge he has etched in his campaign mantra, Wauni wa kwika nesa na ulungalu (Thirst to serve well with integrity).
His priority areas are getting Makueni residents water and high quality healthcare. In a bid to impress woman voters, he has nominated Lucy Mulili as his running mate.
Although Mr Kilonzo Jnr has lost the support of a fair share of Mr Musyoka’s supporters after Wiper doled out party tickets mainly to sitting lawmakers and not conducting party primaries, he has inherited some of the former Makueni county officials that have fallen out with Prof Kibwana.
Prof Mutisya has stoked intense rivalry among Deputy President William Ruto allies in the region with some Ruto allies openly mocking him as a political novice.
Mr Masika bagged 20,837 votes when he unsuccessfully ran against Prof Kibwana in 2017. He is banking on his wealth of experience in public service and business as well as his close working relationship with the outgoing county boss.
A director of Lloyd Masika Ltd, one of Kenya’s largest real estate firms, Mr Masika hails from Mbooni. But he’s widely associated with Wote town in Makueni constituency, where his hotel business is among the landmarks. With 90,817 registered voters, Makueni has the most voters in the county.
In a bid to impress women voters and gnaw on the Kibwezi voting bloc, he has nominated Jacqueline Koni, a former senior official at the Makueni Public Service Board and a close ally of Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua .
Mr Masika lists large-scale rain-water harvesting, farm produce value addition, market creation and town planning to attract investors as his priorities.
He says the next governor should be in good terms with Prof Kibwana’s administration as well as the national government “so that Thwake Dam, Konza City and all the ongoing county and national government projects in the county can be completed”.
Although Prof Kibwana has made it clear that he will not endorse any of those seeking to succeed him, the aspirants can’t afford to ignore his influence.
Talk is rife that he is working behind the scenes to see to it that the county ends up in the hands of a leader who is keen to safeguard his legacy, especially on public participation and the rolling out of universal healthcare.
On several occasions, supporters of Mr Musyoka and Mr Kilonzo Jnr have been up in arms after Prof Kibwana told voters to pick “a mature leader who is keen on upholding and deepening the gains of devolution”.
That Mr Musyoka is banking on Mr Kilonzo Jnr to firmly entrench himself as the Kamba political kingpin, after his influence has been tested by a growing list of critics, is not in question.
On several occasions, the former vice-president has called on the region to vote only Wiper candidates to enhance his value ahead of his 2027 presidential bid.
While announcing his exit from Mr Odinga’s camp Mr Musyoka said one of the reasons for the move was to secure his party’s perceived strongholds from invasion by his political rivals and enhance the chances of Wiper candidates beating their challengers.
TOMORROW: Kisumu County, where a rematch between Governor Anyang Nyong’o and Jack Ranguma awaits
