The Nyeri governor race presents a sense of déjà vu to the candidates, Wahome Gakuru and Governor Samuel Wamathai. It gets more interesting with the entry into the race of Gakuru’s 2013 running mate, Patrick Munene.
Gakuru, the Jubilee Party nominee, finds himself in the same position he was in 2013 when he bagged The National Alliance (TNA) ticket, the most popular party in the region at the time. However, he lost the seat at the General Election to Nderitu Gachagua of the little known Grand National Union (GNU).
Most popular party
Today, having won the ticket of the most popular party yet again, he faces a stiff competition from Gachagua’s 2013 running mate, Wamathai, who is now an independent candidate, and Munene of Democratic Party.
Wamathai became independent after losing to Gakuru in the JP nominations. The governor rose to the throne early this year after his boss, Gachagua, succumbed to cancer.
Munene, on the other hand, is a son of former popular Kieni MP Munene Kairu, and comes from the most populous constituency in Nyeri County. He is banking on his father’s legacy to pull a surprise in the contest already seen as too close to call.
On paper, Gakuru is the candidate to beat but the newly forged alliances could once again work to upset him. At the JP nominations, he won with a landslide, garnering 114,327 votes against Wamathai’s 65,492. Senator Mutahi Kagwe came a distant third.
But as the election beckons, the race may not be as easy and the choice of running mate will play a huge role in each candidate’s ability to marshal the numbers.
Kieni and Mathira, at 109,412 and 101,616 registered voters, respectively, are the most attractive of the six constituencies and their relevance to the election is already indicative of the choice of running mates.
Nyeri Town has 85,523 voters, Othaya (59,477), Mukurweini (54,612) and Tetu (50,919), according to the new voters’ roll by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
In this regard, Munene goes into the race with a head start, given that he is a native of Kieni with a family name to boot. He will bank on familiarity with the people, as his father was once a DP stalwart and legislator of Kieni Constituency.
At 36, he has evened out what he lacks in age and experience with his running mate Njeri Muhara, 50. Ms Muhara has her roots in Mathira, the second most populous constituency in the county, which, together with Kieni, vote as a bloc.
She is a marketing professional and voters in Tetu will find her familiar from her dairy venture in the area.
Further, she has had a sting at the Kenya Dairy Board and was nominated an Agriculture Executive in Gachagua’s government.
Gakuru, who comes from Nyeri Town Constituency, has opted for teachers’ union boss Mutahi Kahiga as his running mate. Gakuru is viewed as a manager from his time at the Vision 2030 Directorate. He has also had stints at Equity Bank. His choice of Kahiga is strategic to help him secure the votes in Kieni and court teachers’ support.
Wamathai is seeking another mandate to complete the projects that he and Gachagua started and hopes that his experience in civil and diplomatic service and the flagship projects in health, education and agriculture will convince voters.
He has picked Githinji Kinyanjui as his running mate. Kinyanjui was initially seeking the Jubilee Party ticket to run for the county top seat, but later backed down to join Wamathai. The rationale behind his deputising Wamathai largely stems from his popularity in his Mathira backyard and his youth.
Besides having an interest in politics, Kinyanjui, alias Cocorico, is a real estate investor and businessman. Wamathai describes his choice of running mate as “strategic” and that he considered age.
Overconfident
“You cannot ignore the youth, they need somebody they can identify with,” Wamathai says.
Gakuru’s opponents are accusing him of being overconfident.
During an event to hand over the nomination certificates to JP nominees, Gakuru’s running mate, Kahiga, declared the upcoming elections a walk over, saying they were only waiting to be sworn in.
But Munene scoffed, “That will be his biggest undoing, he thinks he is assured of victory.”
Gakuru says squabbles between the County Assembly and the executive have grounded the county. During a recent TV interview, he accused the county government of abetting corruption.
The county MCAs tried twice to impeach Gachagua.
angige@standardmedia.co.ke
