Baba yao against ‘politically inexperienced’ Kidero

Ferdinand Waititu

By WAHOME THUKU

NAIROBI, KENYA: Court of Appeal Judge Mohammed Warsame may have given the best graphical description of the political contest between embattled Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero and his challenger Ferdinand Waititu.

In his dissenting judgment, which failed to retain Kidero in office, Justice Wasame described the contest as being between two men who had stormed Nairobi from opposite directions.

“Both are genius for their self-creation. One is a good friend of enthusiastic journalists and newscasters for his propensity to make headline news. The other is a conservative, dignified, image conscious man of the old school of politics,” he said of the two politicians.

He added: “One is perceived as an unrestrained populist, best known for taking no prisoners in pursuit of his political goals. The other is an outsider or wild card in the political equation of this county. He is here purely at the invitation of his hard work and credentials. He has no political experience. He is a scholarly and persuasive blue chip manager.”

The judge described Mr Waititu as a man who speaks English with “a lot of difficulty, and a heavy and prodding tribal accent”. He is formidable and aggressive and pays scant attention to civil liberties in the process of achieving his goals. Kidero on the other hand, the judge said, is laid back and hooded in his approach.

“One thing that is clear is that Hon Waititu is the darling of the common man, with whom he seems to resonate,” Warsame observed.

He said during the elections, Waititu was in the same camps with Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and Women Representative Rachel Shebesh.

“He is lost for words and breath. It is difficult to imagine Nairobi politics without Hon Waititu and his ilk. Nonetheless, he was overwhelmingly defeated by Evans Kidero, a perceived outsider to the throne. Maybe Waititu was deluded by his belief that he is the most popular man in Nairobi,” said Warsame.

He went ahead to describe Waititu as a man well-grounded in Nairobi politics, saying it would be difficult and even dangerous to try to steal his votes.

“A contest with the appellant, in any form, is not a walk in the park. The appellant enjoys massive grassroots support, with the necessary and the attendant consequences if any person violated his rights,” he said.

Warsame added that Waitutu was a heavy weight in Nairobi County politics whose rights could not be easily violated.

Warsame then upheld the High Court decision that Kidero had been validly elected but two other two judges; GBM Kariuki and Patrick Kiage ruled to the contrary.

Acknowledging that his dissenting decision could not save Kidero, Warsame concluded his 93-page judgment saying; “By dint of the majority decision, the fruits of success today belong to the enigmatic, energetic, endearing and sometimes overzealous son from Eastlands; a man who symbolises hard work, poverty and resilience.”