{"id":21841,"date":"2021-02-01T20:05:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T20:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?p=21841"},"modified":"2021-02-01T20:05:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T20:05:55","slug":"the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base","title":{"rendered":"The big task of creating a united Coast political base"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> The election campaign is here and Coast voters have an opportunity to chart their destiny and free themselves from dependence shackles. A new breed of \u2018messiahs – Mombasa\u2019s Hassan Joho and his Kilifi\u2019s Amason Kingi – is promising salvation, clothed in new parties.<\/p>\n

This is a well-beaten path, for in the past coastal region has had leaders who came in the name of freeing locals and even contested the presidency.<\/p>\n

Of the three politicians form the Coast that have given a stab at the presidency, Dr Chibule wa Tsuma\u00a0could perhaps be the most remembered because of his dismal performance in the 1992 polls.<\/p>\n

Mindset problem<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tsuma garnered 15,393 votes in a race that was won by Daniel arap Moi of Kanu with 1,927,645, followed by Ford-Asili\u2019s Kenneth Matiba with 1,354,856<\/p>\n

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In an interview with The Standard, the 77-year-old surgeon argued that not much had changed in the last 29 years, save for increased mistrust by voters.<\/p>\n

The former presidential aspirant says the biggest challenge for Coast leaders who want to ascend to the presidency is the locals\u2019 notion that no politician from the region can win the presidency or other seats at the national level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a mindset problem. Coast voters do not trust that one of their own can be president. That is why they can vote an upcountry person almost to a man but not a local,\u201d says Tsuma.<\/p>\n

Further, Tsuma adds that Coast residents\u2019 decades of lamentation over land problems, joblessness and lack is out of a notion that a saviour or messiah is to come from out of the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a huge task to make people to believe in their ability. I doubt we have a leader at the moment with the muscle to drive an effective campaign and win,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Tsuma, who contested on a Kenya National Congress (KNC) ticket, also struggled to mobilise resources and resorted to door-to-door campaigns instead of holding political rallies.<\/p>\n

Other than Tsuma, in 2007 a sociology lecturer Katama Mkangi (now deceased), also from Kaloleni, ran for presidency on KNC ticket and garnered 23,554 votes.<\/p>\n

In 1961, Ronald Gideon Ngala (deceased) pioneered the region\u2019s struggle to clinch the coveted office at the Legislative Council elections through KANU.<\/p>\n

KADU got 11 seats and KANU 19. Ngala, then 46, however formed a coalition government and became the Chief Minister after KANU declined to do so.<\/p>\n

But Ngala, who hailed from Kaloleni in Kilifi County, was defeated in the 1963 elections, where KANU won 83 of the 129 national assembly seats, as independence dawned.<\/p>\n

Halim Shauri argues that unlike presently, in 1992 there was a semblance of pride among the Coast voters, and they could easily support one of their own for the national office.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can be galvanised behind an idea or ideology. You cannot tell people to believe in nothing or to vote for you just because you come from their region. In 1990s, groups like Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK) rode on issues that were close to the hearts and minds of people,\u201d said Caleb Ng\u2019wena, a land rights activist.<\/p>\n

He said it would be na\u00efve for Joho and Kingi to expect voters in Coast to support them just because they come from the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should outline clearly what they will do about the historical and present land injustices, and most importantly, what they did with the billions of shillings in their counties,\u201d said Ng\u2019wena.<\/p>\n

Scholars attribute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other political scholars attribute the said pride or confidence to the establishment of the Islamic Party of Kenya (IPK) in the 1990s and the fanatical following it enjoyed from the locals.<\/p>\n

Kenyan Muslim scholar Ali Mazrui (deceased) said the IPK idea came up after the Coastal people felt that the government had failed to address land injustices in the region.<\/p>\n

Prof Mazrui, in his many writings on IPK, also attributed the agitation for an Islamic party on unemployment, stating that by then, the region\u2019s poverty levels were double the national figures.<\/p>\n

Those two issues turned to be potent campaigning issues of IPK, whose powerful waves swept the entire Coast region and even stirred some of its leaders to capture parliamentary slots.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 1960s there was also a semblance of unity in Coast region. But most importantly Ngala\u2019s support transcended the Coast to gain support in Rift Valley and Western Kenya. This is what Joho and Kingi have failed to do,\u201d said Prof Shauri.<\/p>\n

Coast needs a leader who can rekindle the people\u2019s hope, unity and confidence in their ability to run for the presidency and to solve historical injustices, added the don.<\/p>\n

Joho and Kingi have launched campaigns, urging locals to get rid of a notion that coast cannot produce a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

National political seat<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to deal with the notion in your minds that no one from Mombasa or Coast can vie and win national political seats. We must erase that from our minds,\u201d said Joho.<\/p>\n

Joho has said he will seek a presidential ticket on the Orange Democratic Movement party, declaring \u201cit is time for Raila Odinga to support my candidature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingi, who has said he will amalgamate all fringe political parties in the region into a new big outfit, which he plans to use to vie for the presidency, has also had a similar message.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not wait for orders from people in Nairobi. People should not attack each other to please their political masters,\u201d he said during the burial of former Kaloleni MP Gunga Mwinga.<\/p>\n

Former Kisauni MP Anania Mwaboza says although the wave across the region favours a local presidential candidate, there are doubts over Joho and Kingi\u2019s seriousness.<\/p>\n

Created confusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

He says the declaration by Joho and Kingi just months to the polls that they will run for the presidency on different parties has created confusion, with many Coast people questioning their ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is now the timing, logistics and truthfulness of those politicians seeking to be presidential candidates from this region. They should be going round the counties and mobilising for votes,\u201d he argues.<\/p>\n

Kilifi politician Naomi Cidi has however cheered on Joho and Kingi, saying both are brave and seasoned politicians who can be president.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoho and Kingi are our sons. We can subject the two to a vetting process and nominate one as our torch bearer,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: The election campaign is here and Coast voters have an opportunity to chart their destiny and free themselves from dependence shackles. A new breed of \u2018messiahs – Mombasa\u2019s Hassan Joho and his Kilifi\u2019s Amason Kingi – is promising salvation, clothed in new parties. This is a well-beaten path, for in the past coastal region […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[839,1115,7294],"class_list":["post-21841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-amason-kingi","tag-kanu","tag-mombasa-county-governor-hassan-joho"],"yoast_head":"\nThe big task of creating a united Coast political base - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The election campaign is here and Coast voters have an opportunity to chart their destiny and free themselves from dependence shackles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The big task of creating a united Coast political base\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The election campaign is here and Coast voters have an opportunity to chart their destiny and free themselves from dependence shackles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-01T20:05:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/02\/the_big_task_of_crea601706c0c1797.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The big task of creating a united Coast political base\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-01T20:05:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\"},\"wordCount\":1063,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/02\/the_big_task_of_crea601706c0c1797.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Amason Kingi\",\"KANU\",\"Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/the-big-task-of-creating-a-united-coast-political-base\",\"name\":\"The big task of creating a united Coast political base - 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