Evans Kidero off the sidelines and ready to dive back into politics, this time in Homabay

Evans Kidero, the pharmacist, experienced corporate chief and former Nairobi governor who, by his own admission, blew Sh423 million in campaign cash only to be downed by Mike Sonko, has now trained his guns on the Homa Bay gubernatorial seat.

While city residents believe his tenure was a disaster, Kidero says he has no regrets and believes he did a good job.

“My management expertise came in handy. Nairobi is like a company with a turnover of Sh40 billion. You need a serious manager. In my term, we launched the city’s strategic plan, we did well on health, roads and housing issues,” he says.

But while he was planning a city of the future, complete with modern transport systems, Nairobians were disillusioned by gaps in garbage collection, rising number of street children and families and poor lighting in the CBD.

His tenure was characterised by run-ins with MCAs, then Senator Mike Sonko and Woman Rep Rachel Shebesh whom he infamously slapped in 2013, a transgression for which he could have been impeached had the two leaders not sorted the matter out of court.

Shebesh had led striking City Hall workers in protest over unpaid salaries and then went to City Hall to confront Kidero, who stopped her with a resounding slap with press cameras rolling.

“Kidero paid me a lot of money. I’m sure he wouldn’t repeat such an offence...to slap a woman in this country, nowadays, there is a precedence. I’m not sure people have such an amount of money. He paid me close to Ksh30 million,” Shebesh said in recent interview.

Kidero, however, laughs off her claims.

“We all know Shebesh is not OK. She is sick and some of her claims should not be taken seriously. That’s all I can say on the matter,” he said.  

Could his past city debacles be the reason he is heading to Homa Bay and not making another run to govern Kenya’s capital city?  

Born and bred Majengo, Kidero, who has spent most of his adult life living and working in Nairobi, insists he is not a city boy running away from cutthroat Nairobi politics, but rather a man drawn to the kraal of his ancestors by the sunset of time.

“I will be buried in Homa Bay. It is where my parents come from. I want to focus on education, agriculture, roads, and industries. We have 700km of beach in Homa Bay, the potential is infinite. Homa Bay has high child and maternal mortality rates. It has the lowest number of tap water connections in Kenya. I want to change that,” he says.

But how, when is facing a string of corruption related court cases?

“Look, I started earning more than Sh1 million a month in salary when I was in my 20s. I was being paid in real money, not bananas. I have been investing. Everything I own can be accounted for,” he told the Nairobian.

Kidero refuses to discuss Ferdinand Waititu and Sonko, two opponents who have given him a rough time in city politics but who have since been impeached.

“People should learn from history. That’s all I can say about them,” he says.

But Waititu believes Kidero’s loss in 2017 was similar to his own in 2013 when he made an unsuccessful bid for Nairobi Governor.

“In 2013, Kidero enjoyed party wave and tribal numbers. Come 2017, the tribal arithmetic was against Kidero. Sonko won because Kikuyus and Kambas voted as one,” says Waititu.

Since leaving office, Kidero, 64, has come face to face with loneliness. First, he was arrested and arraigned in court, which is a very lonely space. And then this April, he was hit by Covid-19, spending ten days in the ICU.

“Covid is a very lonely disease. No one can visit you. It’s just you and your thoughts, both good and bad. You reflect on choices and decisions you’ve made. You are one step away from death. I nearly thought of giving up, but I knew God still has a purpose for me in life, so I fought. I spent the time reading, and reflecting about my life. The time in hospital has made me a better person,” he says.  

Should he beat ODM chairman John Mbadi, Homa Bay Woman Rep Gladys Wanga and businessman Isiah Ogwe, Homa Bay sugarcane farmers who will expect better tidings, unlike what has befallen Mumias Sugar Company where he served as CEO.

But Kidero insists the collapse of Mumias Sugar is a cross he shouldn’t bear. 

“I left a healthy company. The problem started when the Board didn’t manage the succession well. They dropped the ball and Mumias slowly sank. When I joined the company, I found it run down and on the verge of collapse. It had, in the previous financial year, made a loss of Sh244,858,000 and by the time I was leaving, we had made Sh16 billion in profits,” says.