2002 Elections

Nyamira District Constituencies

Details

Published on Saturday, 30 June 2007 22:01

Battle lines drawn in Nyamira

As happened in 1997, North Mugirango/Borabu will be a battleground between political forces in the wider Kisii region allied to or opposed to Mr Simeon Nyachae. Leading the anti-Nyachae onslaught is the incumbent, assistant minister for Local Government Joseph Kiangoi. While the 1997 tussle pitted Mr Kiangoi against long-serving local MP Marita Atebe for the Kanu ticket, the scenario has changed this time around. Sources close to Mr Atebe have already indicated that he is unlikely to run this year. In his place are a number of aspirants eager to fight it out with Kiangoi.

One such person is two-time DP contestant Godfrey Okeri Masanya, chairman of the Sanganyi Tea Factory, who nearly upset Mr Atebe in 1992. Mr Masanya lost to the elderly politician by 137 votes only. The DP flagbearer put up another spirited show five years later, but lost again – this time to Mr Kiangoi of Kanu. Since then, Mr Masanya has been weighing his options and chances. His supporters have already prevailed on him to cross over to Ford People, the party of the moment in the region. But bagging the party's ticket will not be easy either. Also eyeing the ticket is former MP Alfayo Nyarangi Moturi, who sat out of the last polls but is now determined to reclaim the seat he last held in 1988-1992.

NORTH MUGIRANGO

Then there is youthful Nairobi lawyer Samuel Keengwe, who has declared his intention to run on a Ford People ticket, and Nairobi-based quantity surveyor and proprietor of Kayole Hospital, Mr Suleiman Ondieki Magare. The name of the Nyaramba Market-based Alfred Momanyi Marabu is also being mentioned, as are those of several newcomers who are yet to stamp their mark. Like most other Gusii constituencies, the clan factor is critical in North Mugirango/Borabu. The major clans are the Abakeira, the Abarangi, the Abanyengwe, Abaisanga, Abagesinsi, Abakurati, Aboombo and the Abanyakoni. There is also a significant population of settlers from elsewhere in Gusii, especially on the Borabu side, and who constitute about a quarter of the voters.

The settlers comprise the Abanyaribari and the Abagirango, as well as immigrants from the neighbouring West Mugirango, Kitutu Chache and Kitutu Masaba. Clans that usually determine voting trends are the Abakeira, Abaisanga and the Abakurati, with the Abakeira tending to side with the Abanyengwe and the Abarangi. Although the Abaisanga, the Abakurati and the Aboombo are said to be closely-related, they nevertheless, have never voted as a block. Former MP Atebe comes from the Abakurati clan while Mr Masanya is from the Abaisanga clan. Mr Kiangoi is from the smaller Aboombo clan, a factor he used to great effect to rally other smaller clans behind him in 1997.

It is this complex clan arithmetics that promises to make the North Mugirango/Borabu contest one of the most interesting. Mr Masanya's Abaisanga, a conglomeration of sub-clans which collectively comprise the single largest grouping in the constituency, have always rallied behind him but, as history has shown, this has not been sufficient to catapult him to Parliament.On the ground, many admit that Mr Kiangoi has performed very well on the fund-raising front but say his style of leadership has been authoritarian.

"We need to put more emphasis on proper and efficient management, not euphoria and name-calling," Mr Keengwe told The Nation on Thursday.Mr Kiangoi insists that the issues in Nyamira are inherently different and that it is unlikely factors affecting voting patterns elsewhere in Kisiiland will impact on the district. That assertion will be tested at the forthcoming polls.

KITUTU MASABA CONSTITUENCY

For some curious reasons, Kitutu Masaba has the highest number of contestants. That could either mean that the incumbent, Mr George Anyona is finally being viewed as vulnerable or that his rivals have yet to agree on who it is they will back.
Mr Anyona has metamorphosed significantly from the outspoken crusader for the common man's rights and fiercely anti-establishment politician that he was in mid 1970s and 1980s, which saw him serve two stints in detention.

Lately, he has been quite eager to co-operate with the powers-that-be, culminating in his unilateral announcement two months ago that his one-man outfit, the Kenya Social Congress, had entered into a NDP-style pact with Kanu. His announcement was met with a curious silence from Kanu ranks, leading to speculation that Mr Anyona had made the announcement merely to attract the attention of Kanu bigwigs. During the 1992 and 1997 polls, Mr Anyona was identified with the pro-Nyachae camp in Kisii politics. This contributed in no small measure to his re-election in 1997 at a time when many thought he was under siege.

Mr Anyona has since fallen out with the Nyaribari Chache MP and, with issues like the controversy over funds raised for women and youth groups coming back to haunt him, it will be interesting to see how he will perform. The Nyachae factor is particularly strong in the area and the close to 20 aspirants will have to take this into account. The aspirants include Kenindia Insurance executive and Nyamira district Ford People chairman Walter Nyambati, 42-year-old former senior economist at the treasury Timothy Bosire, 1997 Ford Kenya candidate Samson Okioma Nyangau, Nairobi businessman Ezekiel Angwenyi, businessman James Aching'a, former Moi University Student's Union secretary-general Abel Matoke and former Kenya Amateur Athletic Association Secretary Robert Ouko.

Others are Jua Kali Association of Kenya boss James On'gera Bwatuti, a Captain Matata and Kitale-based advocate Jeremiah Samba. Mention is also being made of former National Bank of Kenya boss John Simba, whose brother Nelson Gichaba Simba ran in 1997 on a Kanu ticket and came third. Mr John Simba, however, has not made his real intentions known, but both he and Mr Nyambati are allied to Mr Nyachae.

Of those who have already come out, the frontrunners are Mr Nyambati, a hardened veteran of past battles against Mr Anyona, and Mr Bosire. Mr Nyambati has ensconced himself well within the top echelons of Ford People, successfully worming his way back to the Nyachae camp after a fall-out prior to the 1997 polls over what was perceived as Mr Nyachae's backing for Mr Anyona. Both Mr Nyambati and Mr Bosire, a former close ally of Mr Anyona, have the financial clout that the rest don't, except for Mr Simba were he to join the fray. While clannism has never been a crucial factor in Kitutu Masaba politics, it has risen to the fore in recent years. Ironically, it is Mr Anyona, once credited with down-playing the issue, who now has to bear the brunt of accusations of practising clannism. This was especially so after he proposed his brother, Mr Mageto Moseti, to a position in the Electoral Commission of Kenya. But introduction of the clan aspect could easily backfire, as happened in 1997 when the populous Abatabori clan backed its own Mr Okioma of Ford Kenya, allowing Mr Anyona to galvanise the support of other clans.

WEST MUGIRANGO

In just five short years, the scene has changed so dramatically in West Mugirango constituency that it is no longer appropriate to talk of factors which influenced the 1997 poll as having a significant bearing on this year's election.

Two of the key Kanu personalities who often fought exciting battles for dominance, former MP David Onyancha and Mr Tom Sagwe are no longer on the scene. Mr Onyancha is now Justice of the High Court of Kenya after mending fences with the Kanu high command following a short-lived flirtation with the DP. This was after losing the Kanu ticket in 1997. Having only recently been elevated to the bench, he is unlikely to run. Mr Sagwe passed away last year. He used to enjoy the support of the pro-Nyachae camp, while Mr Onyancha represented the anti-Nyachae faction. There was also a third factor, Mrs Catherine Nyamato, but the former nominated MP often found herself eclipsed in the dust raised by the Onyancha-Sagwe battles.

On the opposition front, the torch-bearer since 1992 has been the current MP, Mr Henry Obwocha, who has won the seat twice on a Ford Kenya ticket. He is now firmly in Mr Nyachae's Ford People. Mr Obwocha faces a determined slate of candidates who feel that after 10 years on the scene, it is time he paved way for someone else. In Kanu, the onslaught is being led by Nairobi consultant gynaecologist Ereneo Nyakiba. Mr Nyakiba, the Nyamira district Kanu branch secretary and the West Mugirango Kanu sub-branch boss, has quietly edged his way closer to Kanu bigwigs ever since he made an unsuccessful bid for the party's ticket in 1997.

His opponents for the Kanu ticket include Nairobi advocate Joseph Rioba, Nyamira businessman Zedekiah Agata, former chief operations manager of Savings and Loan Kenya Ltd Jeremy Okora and former headmaster Obi Nyachiro. Former ambassador Sospeter Mageto, who was the MP between 1974 and 1979, is also being mentioned as a contender. The fight for the Ford People ticket will revolve around Mr Obwocha, 36-year-old Nairobi advocate Mr Dennis Abincha and, probably, Mrs Nyamato. Mr Abincha, son of the influential former civic leader the late Benjamin Abincha, has already thrown the opening salvos, accusing Mr Obwocha of failing to identify the real problems facing his constituents and instead concentrating on high-stakes national politics which have no immediate bearing on the contituency. "Talking generally about corruption is not the issue. Tea farmers in the area have been questioning the high expenditure and high cost of input yet the incumbent remains unconcerned," he charged last week.

Of the 10 constituencies in the Kisii region, West Mugirango is perhaps the one constituency where clan affiliation has often counted for a lot. That is, with the exception of 1992 when Mr Obwocha, from the smaller Bosamaro clan, came to the scene. West Mugirango has three dominant clans: Bogichora, Bonyamatuta and the Bosamaro. Three smaller clans, the Bokaimbori, the Bomabacho and the Bonyaiguba are often grouped alongside the Bogichora to form the Keboye. Mrs Nyamato, Dr Nyakiba, Justice Onyancha, 1992 DP candidate David Nyakang'o and perennial contestant Matthew Ondeyo Nyaribari are all from this group.

Any candidate who can successfully rally the support of this group is almost certain to carry the day.