Nzioka Waita sets the stage for titanic battle with Wiper in Machakos
Former State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita with Machakos Assembly Speaker Florence Mwangangi in Machakos town yesterday. Mr Waita announced he will vie for the Machakos governor seat on a Chama Cha Uzalendo ticket with Ms Mwangangi as his running mate.
In the last two elections, the battle for the Machakos governor seat has been one between the Wiper party and a fringe party.
And just like in 2013 and 2017, in the August election, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper party once again faces competition from a fringe party that was its closest competitor in 2013.
While Wiper had hoped to have an edge having been the runners up in the last elections, with Ms Wavinya Ndeti set to be its candidate once again, the small party she vied on in 2013 has fronted a formidable ticket.
Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU), on whose ticket Ms Ndeti vied on in 2013, has tapped former President Kenyatta’s aide Nzioka Waita, who yesterday named county assembly Speaker Florence Mwangangi as his running mate.
In 2013, Ms Wavinya polled 92,219, losing to eventual winner, Wiper’s Alfred Mutua (257, 367). Dr Mutua successfully defended his seat in 2017 on a Maendeleo Chap Chap ticket.
The governor polled 249,603 to once again trounce Ms Ndeti (209,141) who had defected to Wiper.
While the defection of Ms Mwangangi has spared Ms Ndeti more competition for Wiper’s ticket –she still faces Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, her relative – it further complicates her third run for governorship.
By snatching Ms Mwangangi to join his ticket in Ms Ndeti’s former party, Chama Cha Uzalendo, Mr Waita has scrambled the Machakos governor’s race and stepped up the battle within Azimio la Umoja coalition led by ODM’s Raila Odinga.
Ms Mwangangi, a former member of the Judicial Service Commission, has quietly been building political networks across
Eight constituencies
Besides facing competition from the fringe party, which got the better of Mr Musyoka’s outfit in the last election, Wiper will be confronted by another formidable rival. Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), which will field its chairman Johnson Muthama – a former Machakos senator and Mr Musyoka’s confidant-turned-bitter foe – presents a major headache for Wiper.
There is therefore everything to play for in the county with 690,243 registered voters.
Sources suggest Mr Musyoka is now keen to have Mr Makau withdraw from the race to back Ms Wavinya.
Mr Waita fought off speculation that he was to step down, reports he has blamed on his rivals. Ahead of his resignation in February, Mr Waita revealed that he was under pressure from some quarters to shelve his bid in favour of senior politicians in the area.
Early last month, however, further reports emerged that Azimio was considering a ticket pairing ex-Jubilee Party secretary-general Raphael Tuju and Mr Waita as his running mate for the Nairobi gubernatorial race. But once again, Mr Waita dismissed the reports as “works of his opponents”, insisting he was firmly in the Machakos race.
He accused Wiper Party of engaging in desperate propaganda to bolster its diminishing political fortunes in Machakos.
“As I moved across Machakos popularising my governorship candidature, I came across a humble leader who shares my values and principles. She will be the Machakos deputy governor,” Mr Waita said yesterday as he introduced Ms Mwangangi, amid cheers at a brief ceremony at a Machakos hotel.
“Today we have an antidote to those who have been undermining Mr Waita. The Bible tells us how for 40 days the Philistines would unleash their greatest warrior, Goliath, who would challenge the Israelites and threaten to decimate all of them and they would be scared.
“But one day, one young boy known as David killed Goliath using a sling and a pebble after years of prayers and days of anointing. The same way, Goliath will fall. Leave us alone. The people of Machakos themselves will elect their leaders,” Mr Waita said as he called out unidentified individuals he said were determined to influence the outcome of the polls.
Mr Waita’s remarks are widely understood to refer to Mr Musyoka who has been working hard to ensure that his party recaptures the Machakos governorship.
Aspiring political leaders
Ms Mwangangi revealed that she had negotiated for a deal that would ensure that she controls half of the county government should they win.
“I have shelved my governorship ambition for the time being. We have talked at length and I can assure you that I will not be a flower girl in Mr Waita’s government,” Ms Mwangangi said at the ceremony that was attended by sitting and aspiring political leaders.
Her withdrawal from the race means there are now seven aspirants seeking to succeed Dr Mutua.
Others in the race include Dr Mutua’s deputy Francis Maliti, Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka, former Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala, Mwala MP Vincent Musau and lawyer Joel Mbaluka.
Mr Waita, who brands himself a progressive leader and not a politician, has pledged to transform the economic fortunes of the county should he be elected.
He is banking on experience gained in the public and private sector to ensure efficient service delivery in Machakos as well as create more jobs for the youth by opening up industrial and agricultural areas.
Ms Ndeti, who lost her bid to overturn Dr Mutua’s 2017 win in a court battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court, is betting on her experience following recent deployment as Cabinet Administrative Secretary as well as Wiper’s influence within Azimio la Umoja.
Mr Makau has asked Ms Ndeti to return to CCU saying she has no room in Wiper but should step aside and support him. The two term MP, whose Mavoko constituency is the most populous in the county, is confident that he has the numbers to win in the event that they go for nomination for Wiper ticket.
In the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, the battle will be between Mr Muthama and Mr Munyaka.
Mr Muthama took a break from politics in 2017 but has made a comeback to active politics having decamped from Wiper to UDA.
He said it is time the county welcomes transformative leadership and not the theatrics and public relations that it has been subjected to under Dr Mutua, and no other person can offer such leadership other than him.
Last month, during a tour of the county, DP Ruto intimated that he was ready to sponsor Mr Munyaka’s – a third term MP – bid for the governorship seat, setting stage for a titanic battle for the alliance’s ticket.
