Kisauni: A Wake Up Call For NAK

Adongo Ogony

The NAK bullies are completely in disarray. The big mouth Mungatana has been abusing people and yapping about whipping the LDP in Kisauni when he promised they would hide in a Saddam hole when the fight begins. Guess who is digging himself a Saddam hole right now. The little twit is almost in tears pleading with the Narc big wigs not to clear Hassan Joho the LDP candidate who trounced the competition in Kisauni with more then 4,000 votes, with his closest rival, also LDP getting about 2,000 votes. Mungatana has threatened to defect if Joho is cleared to run on a Narc. I wonder which party is going to accept the irritant from Garsen.

The sad part is that Mungatana is now reduced to supporting another LDP candidate Mr. Mwamboza who came second in the race. Murungaru’s candidate of choice Mrs Alice Maitha was humiliated with 177 votes. Essentially the LDP took over 80% of the votes in Kisauni.

Is this important? You bet it is. The LDP is already very strong in Mombasa and in the coast province as a whole. NAK needed to show some life and some fighting spirit by at least making a strong showing. Instead they were whipped and blown off the radar. Now they have to leave with their tails between their legs. Looks good on them, doesn’t it? The big man in the coast Mr. Mwakwere has been a no show; he knows how much he is hated in Mombasa, particularly after the Iraq kidnapping fiasco when he made a complete fool of himself and embarrassed the country. At this rate NAK may have to cede the coast to the LDP and that is bad news for Kibaki and his folks.

The second reason this doesn’t look good for NAK is the level of defeat. The guys were trounced. It would appear the people of Kisauni gave NAK the Kanu treatment of 2002 where merely being associated with Kanu meant defeat. Nobody in Kisauni wanted to touch anything to do with NAK. That is not good for the big boys. If Kenyans begin to actively hate NAK as a party of arrogant power maniacs it can be a disaster for the party come 2007. The NAK people need to sit back and reflect on where they are going instead of just riding on Kibaki’s coattail and tagging a long as the party of the president.

Third the NAK house is in shambles. The DP crew in power is alienating everybody. They have Musikari Kombo by the neck and may lure him with a VP slot if Kibaki is still alive and strong enough to contest in 2007, but if Kibaki is unable to go, nobody will work with the DP and in fact their options for a presidential candidate will be reduced to zero. I mean who is going to vote for Kiraitu, Murungaru, Muite or Saitoti for the presidency. Saitoti may stand a chance (forget the Goldenberg charges, everybody is walking free) because he may bring in the old Moi network to help the DP but still without Kibaki the DP is dead. They have made sure of that themselves with their arrogance and lack of strategic thinking. Good riddance.

And then there is the war with Ngilu and the whole issue of the so-called Kamba vote. Ngilu won’t stick with DP if Kibaki is not in the picture. Already she is peeved with the humiliation the DP power barons brewed for her over the NSHIF bill.

All put together Kisauni is an indicator of what NAK/DP may face in many parts of the country come the next general election.

In terms of quality of candidates that is another story altogether. I don’t know Hassan Joho from Adam but we have been told he is a Mombasa tycoon. I don’t know if that is good or bad. I doubt he is any different from the other candidates, but heck my good friend Mwandawiro campaigned very hard for him and almost got smashed by thugs sent by their rivals. If there is one politician I trust in Kenya it is Mwandawiro.

By the way what is up with Maitha’s former bodyguard, Nyonga Wa Makemba, who was supposed to be Mungatana’s horse in the race. He is reported to have been arrested with a carload of crude weapons. What the heck are the crude weapons? Are these leftovers from the weapons used in tribal cleansing where his boss was implicated? That fella ought to spend some time in jail. Mungatana can visit him there. They deserve each other.

The other interesting aspect of this is the simple brilliance of the LDP strategy. They started badly with the usual chest-thumping saying they will get their own candidate. Then they realized it is in their favour to run an LDP candidate against anybody NAK could come up with and front a Narc candidate from the LDP. Now they have put NAK in a pickle. First they exposed NAK’s incredible unpopularity in the coast. Now if NAK buckles and go with their own candidate who will Murungaru expel from the Narc government? Mungatana? NAK’s other problem apart from the arrogance of power is that there is too much talk and too little thinking. That is always a recipe for disaster. The nation is watching and we are awake.

To my friends Mungatana and Murungaru; how about a generous dose of humble pie and some relaxation at the beaches. I am just trying to help and it is in good faith. To the LDP; don’t blow it now acting up. Work hard and win the seat and organize your party in every single constituency it is going to be a war of attrition come 2007. Kisauni ni kionjo tu.