Kennedy Kiliku takes final bow

By Willis Oketch and Athman Amran

Former Changamwe MP Joseph Kennedy Kiliku is dead.

Kiliku, 57, died after collapsing at his Tudor home in Mombasa.

His widow Elizabeth said Kiliku was pronounced dead at a Mombasa hospital.

"As we were taking supper, my husband started complaining of chest pains," said Elizabeth.

Until his death, Kiliku was the chairman of National Labour Party (NLP). He was Changamwe MP from 1983 to 1997 and an articulate debater and critic of the Government.

The late Kennedy Kiliku

He had a stint as general secretary of the giant Dock Workers Union that represents Kenya Ports Authority employees.

Lately he was actively involved in Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) countrywide rallies on constitutional reforms.

He was also involved in NLP’s Kassim Ali Sawa’s campaign for the forthcoming Matuga by-election.

President Kibaki was among those who sent condolence messages to the family of the former Changamwe MP.

The President said death had robbed the country and the people of Mombasa of a hard working and dedicated individual who served the nation diligently in various capacities.

Waning fortunes

Kibaki, who at one time worked with Kiliku in the Democratic Party, described him as a humble, sociable and respectable person.

The Head of State said the former MP would be remembered for the effort he dedicated towards the Commission of Inquiry into tribal clashes of 1991/1992.

He died harbouring ambitions to reclaim the Changamwe parliamentary seat despite his waning political fortunes.

Observers say Kiliku would have remained the politician to beat in Changamwe had it not been for the fact that the source of his strength, the formidable Kamba vote, became the source of his weakness later on.

He had dominated the Changamwe politics for three consecutive terms, from 1983 to 1997.

After claiming the seat in the 1992 General Election, he apparently made the wrong decision by considering shifting base to Ukambani.

But the blow came when his rival Ramadhan Kajembe challenged his election in a petition, which led to the nullification of his election in a record one day at the Mombasa High Court.

Although Kiliku retained the seat in a by-election in 1996, he was never the same confident politician. He toyed with the idea of vying for a seat in Kitui Central.

Apart from his political indecision, his voter base — the Kamba vote — was also suddenly dealt a blow with the entrance of Water Minister Charity Ngilu as a presidential candidate in the 1997 General Election.

Ngilu was then the Social Democratic Party leader. Her wave was among factors that led to the beginning of the end of his political era in the constituency.

He had at that time vied for the seat on a DP ticket whose leader, Kibaki, was also a presidential candidate. Kajembe, who no one thought would win, trounced him.

But Kiliku did not give up and tried to rebuild his grassroots base by vying for and winning the post of the powerful Dock Workers Union secretary general post in 2001.

However, in the 2002 General Election luck was not on his side again.

The elections found him on the wrong side of the Narc wave, which swept away over 40 years of Kanu rule.

While Kajembe quickly adapted by ditching Kanu and joining Raila Odinga’s Liberal Democratic Party, Kiliku came up with his own party, NLP, and sought to enter into a coalition with Simeon Nyachae’s Ford-People.

Nyachae’s presidential ambitions came to a naught and Kajembe defeated Kiliku again.

Defeated again

In the 2007 General Election, Kiliku’s political fortunes dipped further when he and another rival, Peter Mittau, fought for ODM-Kenya’s ticket when Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka was vying for the presidency.

Kiliku had travelled to Nairobi to get a nomination certificate but Mittau got it. The former MP decided to vie on an NLP ticket and was again defeated by Kajembe. He got only 67 votes.

The following year, he also lost his position as secretary general of the Dock Workers Union.

Kiliku is survived by two boys and three girls.