Jubilee and CORD scramble for Maa vote

NAIROBI: There appears to be renewed interest to win the support of the Maasai community in recent weeks with leaders of Jubilee and the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) making more frequent visits to the region

Last weekend, President Uhuru Kenyatta and CORD leader Raila Odinga made separate visits to Kajiado County with the president showing up at Mbirikani in Loitokitok where he attended the graduation of the Olejuanani age-group, while Raila was at Mashuru to preside over an Olnyangusi age-set ceremony.

Raila and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto have in recent weeks made frequent forays to the region, raising concern among local United Republican Party (URP) leaders who consider the area their stronghold since the last General Election where their party easily dominated. But it is Deputy President William Ruto’s presence in Suswa, Narok County last week that gave an indication that the sustained visits to the region may be deliberate. This was Ruto’s second visit to the county in less than a week.

Political pundits say these visits could indicate that both coalitions view the counties of Narok and Kajiado as battle grounds in the 2017 General Election. “Getting the Maasai vote is becoming increasingly important to winning the 2017 General Election because as things stand, the community seems undecided on which direction to go,” says Ledama ole Kina, a political observer from the region.

URP has the majority of leaders in Narok County — six MPs and governor — while TNA has one legislator, but local leaders think fortunes will change in 2017. Out of the eight parliamentary seats in Kajiado, TNA holds six while ODM has two in the largely cosmopolitan county.

Although Narok Governor Samuel Tunai and Narok Senator Stephen Ole Ntutu are both members of URP, the Senator led the protests against the governor, and pundits say the Opposition may want use this to portray a growing disenchantment with Jubilee.

Narok West MP Patrick Ntutu (URP) says infighting among Narok leaders and ODM’s win in the Kajiado Central by-election has emboldened the Opposition. “Raila is an astute politician who will want to make maximum political capital out of these issues. When one of the demonstrators was shot in Narok in March, Raila attended the funeral, portraying himself as concerned about the issues of local people,” says Patrick.

The county government’s inability to address issues raised by local people has compounded the problem for the ruling coalition, said MP Ntutu.

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“We in Jubilee are, however, determined to ensure that Uhuru and Ruto win majority votes in both Narok and Kajiado counties. We will invite the two leaders to inaugurate more development projects,” said the legislator.

Other leaders from the region think Jubilee should change tack. Narok North MP Moitalel Kenta (TNA) argues that Jubilee is losing out because it has zoned Narok as a URP stronghold whereas “it is actually a cosmopolitan area with many TNA and ODM supporters”.

The ruling coalition’s leadership may be coming to the conclusion that the ground is shifting.

Emurwa Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno says the DP’s many forays in Narok may be an indication that they are concerns that the tide is turning against Jubilee.

“When Ruto came to Narok to commission the tarmacking of roads in the town, he was accompanied by only the governor among the region’s prominent leaders. His reception was tepid. On his trip to Suswa last Friday, he convinced us to accompany him and we agreed to send Senator Ntutu,” said Ng’eno.

And the Opposition are capitalising on the cracks they have seen. ODM chairman John Mbadi says the Jubilee government has disregarded those who voted for it.

“Jubilee does not care about the plight of the people. They only ran to Narok and Kajiado after realising the Opposition was making inroads in the region,” Mbadi observes.

However, the Deputy President has downplayed talks of a scramble for Narok, and said the government was committed to providing essential services. “The people of Narok want services and are not interested in leadership squabbles which cannot change their lives,” Ruto said in Suswa.

Senator Ntutu says the queries by some URP over governance issues should not be viewed as a rebellion.

“We are firmly behind the President and his Deputy. We will sit as leaders and solve the issues affecting the county.”

But Ledama disagrees and believes the Maasai community lacks direction from its leaders. He says the community that has relied heavily on directions from ‘spokesmen’ has not identified one since Ntimama quit active politics.

Ledama says that since the former minister lost the Narok North parliamentary seat, the community has had no one to guide it.

Ntimama, the self-styled spokesman of the Maasai community, rallied the community behind the independence party Kanu and was instrumental in leading them to the opposition at the end of the Nyayo era.