Former Taita Taveta governor Granton Samboja during his show on Anguo FM radio station.
|Taita Taveta
Premium
From governor to radio preacher: Samboja back to 'first love', radio
For 10 months since last year's general election, former Taita Taveta governor Granton Samboja has been among politicians who had taken a back seat.
The politician, who lost his re-election bid to Andrew Mwadime, has suddenly resurfaced in familiar and not-so-familiar territory.
Mr Samboja, a former radio presenter, who is also linked to some media owners, is now a radio presenter where he doubles up as a preacher, entertainer and inspirational speaker.
Amid song and dance in the studio, the politician receives messages from listeners seeking spiritual nourishment, a far cry from politics where the public often seeks favours such as financial support from leaders.
"Ninazidi kuona fadhili za Bwana, maanake umbali nimefika na familia yangu, kwa kweli ni Ebenezer (I continue to witness God's favour because the far he has brought my family and I, he is surely Ebenezer)," Mr Samboja says in one of the programmes, which was streamed live on Facebook.
In 2017, Mr Samboja won the governorship of Taita Taveta through the Wiper Party, but defected to Jubilee in 2022.
But since the August 9, 2022 elections, little has been heard from Mr Samboja — until he unveiled his radio show two weeks ago.
His re-emergence at a time when the political heat is rising across the country may raise eyebrows about his motives.
This is all the more so because, in addition to the show on the local FM station, he has been on a series of meet-the-people tours in the past two weeks.
On July 15, he met some local residents at his home in Mahoo ward for lunch and then held a dinner meeting in the evening.
Last week, he met a group of women in Mwatate for what he described as an empowerment session.
"I was delighted to meet young mothers during an empowerment session we organised in Kamtonga, Chawia Ward, Mwatate sub-county. We had a wonderful time together," he posted on his social media pages.
These developments come at a time when the Kenya Kwanza coalition is intensifying its strategies to gain popularity in the Coast counties ahead of the next elections.
President William Ruto accompanied other Kenya Kwanza-aligned political leaders to an interdenominational prayer service in Taita Taveta on Sunday.
The region's politicians, led by Governor Mwadime, vowed to work with the government while distancing themselves from protests called by Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition.
Sources say Dr Ruto is expected to visit other coastal counties later this week.
Kenya Kwanza only managed to win two of the six governorships in the Coast region in the last election.
These were Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani, who is a member of the UDA, and Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, who is a member of the Amani National Congress (ANC).
ODM won in Mombasa County, where the governor is Abdulswamad Nassir, Kilifi (Gideon Mung'aro) and Tana River (Dhadho Godhana).
Mr Mwadime, a former member of Parliament for Mwatate, won as an independent candidate with 49,901 votes, while Mr Samboja came second with 23,703 votes.
Taita Taveta was one of the two counties in the country where an independent candidate won the gubernatorial election, alongside Meru’s Kawira Mwangaza.
The county was also one of the few in the country that has changed governors in every election since 2013.
Mr John Mruttu was the first governor of Taita Taveta. Mr Mruttu contested again last year under the UDA party and came third with 13,865 votes. He is currently chairman of the Agricultural Finance Corporation.
