A lawyer has tossed himself into the murky waters of politics seeking to dislodge Mohammed Ali as the next Nyali MP.
Joshua Otieno Ndere becomes the fifth aspirant to declare interest in the Nyali MP seat, which has traditionally attracted many candidates since it was carved out of the larger Kisauni constituency in 2013.
Ndere has joined Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho’s cousin Said ‘Saido’ Abdalla, Wiper women democrats national secretary Millicent Odhiambo, former Mombasa Youth Association chair Japheth Marine and Gema Mombasa county chair Crispus Waithaka, who all want to oust the incumbent.
In 2013, there were 15 aspirants for the seat, which was won by the Wiper party’s Hezron Awiti.
In 2017, it attracted nine aspirants who were all beaten by Ali on an independent ticket.
On Wednesday, Ndere was installed as a Luo elder in Nyali sub county and given blessings to go for the seat.
He said the time has come for the people of Nyali to be treated equally.
“As a community, we have had a big say in the leadership of Mombasa county but our interests are always discarded after we help people get to power,” Ndere said at the Khadija primary school.
“It is time we changed that. Our interests must be addressed.”
He said his community has been a victim of politics of betrayal in Nyali and Mombasa county as a whole.
“Never again will people play with our feelings and our rights. We have had poor leadership and we want to correct that,” said Ndere.
One of his plans is to target the new voters, who will be voting for the first time in 2022.
“We want to make sure we convince many youngsters, the new 18-year-olds to register as voters and vote in 2022. We will bring them to our side,” said one of Ndere’s handlers.
However, Ali’s political advisor Mwalimu Mwanyumba dismissed the notion that there is a section of residents who have been neglected.
“Our work speaks for itself. So whatever the naysayers say, Nyali residents have eyes and they can see,” said Mwanyumba.
Of the many aspirants, Ali’s advisor said he expects more to come into the picture, but dismissed them as ‘normal punching bags’.
“If you go to a boxing club you will not miss a punching bag. Some aspirants are just planted to try and divide votes,” said Mwanyumba.
He said Ali has helped improve the image of Nyali with as many as five new schools built within four years of his leadership.
“We have Kwa Bulo primary and secondary schools, Mohammed Ali Girls, the only girls' school in the larger Kisauni since independence, the Kongowea secondary, which is the only public school in Kongowea ward, Pentrose Primary facelift in Mkomani, name them,” said Mwanyumba.
He said Ali has also done 70 per cent of the roads in Nyali, which, with a population of 216,577 as per the 2019 census, is the third most populated constituency after Kisauni (291,930) and Likoni (250,358).
Nyali had the second most registered voters in 2017 at 104,017, after Kisauni’s 126,151.
On Wednesday, Wiper’s Odhiambo said Nyali currently has a system that is only taking care of the hardware, leaving out the software.
“What about the people around these schools and roads? The system is not enabling people’s lives,” said Odhiambo.
She said she wants to create a system where people will have money in their pockets and food on their tables.
Her bursary scheme, she said, will not be where one gets Sh5,000 yet they owe the school Sh40,000 in fee arrears.
She said leaders in other constituencies like Wundanyi give full scholarships.
“We need to alleviate poverty by empowerment. I want to be a voice for the people so that they can have somebody to speak for them right at up to the top,” Odhiambo said.
Marine said he has seen first-hand what poverty is and would not like to see anyone else go through poverty.
His plan is to harness the talents that the youth have to create jobs.
“Self-employment is the way to go. Youth can earn a lot from their own talents if there are the right systems and structures in place to exploit these talents,” said Marine.
He said the current leadership in Nyali has been giving youth hopes that their talents will be nurtured.
“However, hope is not a strategy,” said the former youth chair.
He told the Star on phone if empowered will knock on many doors to be able to help the vulnerable in society.
“I understand the ideals of the society because I have been through the suffering that the people are suffering. That has defined me,” said Marine.
Saido said security and education will be his main agenda if elected.
He noted that results in national exams show the level of education is poor in Nyali.
“We want to improve the quality of education in Nyali,” said Saido.
He said the current leadership has invested significantly in police stations.
Ali has helped put up more police stations in Nyali.
Previously, there was only the Nyali police station.
However, Ali has been able to help build Mwatamba police station, Mbungoni police post, Kongowea police station, and is now putting up Khadija police station, according to Mwanyumba.
He said: “We want to put up a buffer zone so that we do not carry the burden of the Kisauni insecurity.”
Saido said the many police stations have not solved the insecurity in Nyali.
“Youth have no jobs. The many police stations do not create jobs. We have to create jobs for youth to get them out of crime,” said Saido.
He said there is mistrust between the youth and the police and he will work to address that problem.
“Plus, we have to support the talents of the youth so they can be self-employed. This will solve a lot of the insecurity problems,” said Saido.
The Gema Mombasa county chair, Waithaka, was coy on his ambitions.
He vied for the seat in 2017.
“Let us wait for the BBI to pass first and see whether we will have elections in 2022. Only the will I be clear whether I will vie or not,” said Waithaka.
Edited by D Tarus