Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has settled on the newly registered Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) to champion Coast unity agenda amid protests over the use of the name that had been floated for a regional coalition.
Sources told the Nation that Mr Kingi used his proxies to register the new party that is listing members across the country ahead of its official launch.
The governor’s plan, the Nation understands, is to use PAA to consolidate Coast votes before entering into a national coalition ahead of 2022 General Election.
“PAA is not a Coast party but a national party with the roots at the Coast because every national party has its origins somewhere,” Mr Kingi said.
But even before take-off, the Kilifi county boss is facing protests from some parties he had courted for a coalition, which accuse him of going behind their backs to register the party with the name they had suggested in their meetings.
The five political parties are Shirikisho Party of Kenya, Kadu-Asili, Republican Congress Party of Kenya, Umoja Summit Party of Kenya, and the Communist Party of Kenya.
Kadu-Asili secretary-general Gerald Thoya yesterday complained that “someone” went ahead and registered PAA, an idea they had for their coalition.
“We are unhappy after someone in Coast region has gone ahead and registered PAA, a name we had reserved,” he told the Nation.
“We shall continue with formation a coalition and we welcome them to join us as we forming our new alliance.”
However, Mr Kingi is not welcome, he added.
“It should be known that we are not working with governor Kingi since he came in asking us to fold our parties and form new party but we felt there was a trap. Since then, we continued with our agenda and we shall soon unveil our coalition.”
Shirikisho Party of Kenya leader Adam Mbeto said the five political parties would go ahead to form the alliance despite Kingi snapping up their name.
"We hope our coalition will be strong with many followers to address issues affecting our people," said Mr Mbeto.
Their sentiments are a pointer to the turbulent sail Mr Kingi faces as he embarks on uniting the region that has not had a strong regional party in the recent past.
The governor has been keen on reviving the political fortunes of Coast— a move that saw him stripped of the Kilifi Orange Democratic Movement chairmanship, the party on whose ticket he was elected in 2013 and 2017.
At the weekend, the governor who is being courted by both One Kenya Alliance and Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), appealed to the coastal leaders to support PAA for the sake of the region’s unity.
He said he was surprised that some politicians who have been championing for Coast unity had distanced themselves from the new party.
“Every time coastal leaders have been drumming for unity. There is no single day any of the leaders has preached against the coastal unity, but how will we achieve our agenda if we cannot come together and support our party?” asked Mr Kingi.
The governor said he is currently setting up party and fixing the coastal unity before joining the ongoing discussion at the national table.
“Before you ascend, you must ensure that you have a strong foundation. This is the time we should embrace the ideology that we had together as the coastal region,” said Kilifi county boss.
Last week, Mr Kingi turned down Dr Ruto’s offer to join United United Democratic Alliance, with all signs indicating he might join One Kenya Alliance.
“The deputy president did not involve me when he was coming up with UDA, but he is just inviting me to join the party. I will be a guest when I go there, and, as it is, after three days I will no longer be in my comfort zone,” he said.
A week ago, Mr Kingi met three OKA principals at Tamarind Hotel in Mombasa in what is said to be the initial talks to nominate him as the alliance’s point man in the region.
Key alliance leaders Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper Party) and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula met Mr Kingi who was one of the ODM pillars in Coast region.
