Wanjiru’s interest in city seat poses dilemma for ODM

By Protus Onyango

The expected entry of Housing Assistant Minister Bishop Margaret Wanjiru into the race to be Nairobi’s first  governor has spiced up politics in the city and further complicates the already difficult arithmetic in Orange Democratic Party.

Wanjiru, the ODM Starehe MP, hinted at her intentions during an ODM political rally recently held at Mugabe grounds in Dandora, Nairobi County.

Disgruntlement

Before then, the contest was expected to be between former Mumias Sugar chief executive Evans Kidero and former Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia, all gunning for the ODM ticket.

Before the ODM meeting in Dandora, Wanjiru was said to be contemplating leaving the party apparently because she was not being ‘appreciated’. However, sources said Deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, rejected Wanjiru’s wish to join TNA.

Sources say Wanjiru remained in ODM after being assured of a direct nomination by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, which is already causing cracks in the Orange party.

The party has in various occasions said nobody would be favoured and all aspirants would have to battle for tickets.

It is understood that Wanjiru’s demand is premised on the theory that she needs to be assured of some preferential treatment so that she can devote her time in campaigning for Raila Odinga, ODM’s presidential candidate, to counter TNA wave in Nairobi.

Mr Kidero welcomed her candidacy, but warned that she should not be given direct nomination.

“The more candidates for this seat there are, the better because it allows people to identify the best. But I would tell the city residents that running a multi-billion county like Nairobi needs people who have been tried and tested,” said Kidero. The former Mumias Sugar Company chief executive said he had successfully steered well all the companies he had worked in.

Aspirants warning

“Nairobi would be a success story, but any mistake to get the wrong person in the helm will really hurt the city,” he said.

Initially, there were attempts by TNA to woo Kidero because they considered him a strong candidate for the city, but he declined to jump ship.

Former Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia claimed Wanjiru had also demanded direct nomination by TNA to contest the Nairobi gubernatorial seat.

Kisia warned ODM against giving in to the demands of direct nomination by some aspirants.

The former Town Clerk said ODM must embrace democracy and allow aspirants to compete fairly. 

“Democracy must be seen to prevail and we must recognise that the party is bigger than any of us,” Kisia said.

Wanjiru has had poor relations with some Nairobi politicians. Nairobi Mayor George Aladwa, who has openly supported Kidero’s bid, has been fighting with Wanjiru over chairmanship of the party.

The two fought for the ODM Nairobi County chairmanship in last year’s party elections that Aladwa won. The relationship between the two deteriorated until a reconciliation meeting at the Bomas of Kenya chaired by the party national chairman Henry Kosgey.

Short lived truce

Addressing 1,000 party delegates drawn from all the city’s 17 constituencies, Mr Aladwa said the interest of the party should supersede personal ambitions. “Bishop and I met the party leader this morning and we resolved as mature politicians to stop this cold war and build our party in Nairobi,” said Aladwa then.

 “Let us work as brothers and sisters and unite all our supporters instead of fighting,” he added.

On her part, Bishop Wanjiru called on supporters from the two camps to forget the past and build a stronger ODM in Nairobi.

“Let us not be engaged in petty issues. We should work hard to popularise our candidate Raila Odinga,” said Wanjiru.

However, the truce was short lived, broken by Wanjiru’s interest in the gubernatorial seat. Aladwa used the same podium Wanjiru seemingly declared her intention to warn that ODM could not trust people who had not made up their mind.

Using words directed at Ms Wanjiru, Aladwa said: “We can’t work with politicians who are with us today and tomorrow we are told they are moving to other parties. This way, we can’t build a stronger party,” Mr Aladwa said.

A member of the ODM secretariat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Wanjiru’s bid would come a cropper.

“Her rivals say that if she wins nomination, the party would have no flag bearer because she has no ‘first degree’ despite her doctoral qualification in divinity from South Africa,” he said.

Dr Jackson Kivuva, a Political Science lecturer says Wanjiru’s candidacy would be inconsequential.

“The Starehe MP is not a serious candidate for the position of governor. She is a shrewd politician, but can’t make it as a governor. I am not sure many Nairobi residents would trust her for the position,” said Mr Kivuva.

He said a governor should be someone, who can make executive decisions, technocrat, and not a politician.

Analysts believe past records by those, who have served in City Council of Nairobi and its politics, will likely affect positively or negatively their ability to be elected.

Kisia has previously defended his tenure claiming he took over as the Town Clerk when the city was debt ridden, but he repaid all that the City Hall owed.

“For ten years City Hall had not been servicing its debts, leading to accumulation of unpaid statutory obligations including workers medical cover and retirees’ benefits,” said Kisia.

He said when he took over the mantle at City Hall, some suppliers had withheld their services due to unpaid arrears and the council owed retirees Sh500 million. “When I came in, I hired an audit company to look at the staff verification and staff redeployment and the report formed my basis of restructuring the council,” said Kisia.

Others in race

However, the accusation of impropriety in the Sh5 billion loan from Equity Bank damaged Kisia’s tenure at the local authority.

He maintains the terms were above board and came in handy to rescue the council from collapse and in the process saved it Sh4.5 billion. Mr Kivuva says Nairobi voters are enlightened and would not be hoodwinked.

“I believe the battle between the two technocrats, Kidero and Kisia. The other aspirants have a background in politics and it would be a disaster if they were elected to manage the massive city resources,” he said.

The other aspirants are Jimnah Mbaru, Ferdinand Waititu, Miguna Miguna and Nairobi Central Business District chair Timothy Muriuki.