Two weeks ago, two Coast politicians, Kilifi county assembly speaker Teddy Mwambire and Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga, were arrested and charged with taking part in an unlawful procession and chanting anti-government slogans.
They were released early last week after four days in police custody and their case will be mentioned on August 7, 2023.
The protests and arrests of the politicians raise pertinent questions about the future of Coast politics. There are lessons to be learnt. So, what have we learnt?
We have learnt that the Coast region is politically disunited. During the four days that the politicians were in police custody, Coast politicians and leaders remained silent, notwithstanding the fact that our Constitution provides for freedoms of peaceful assembly and protests.
The missing voices included those of former governors Amason Kingi (Kilifi county) and Hassan Joho (Mombasa county) who, in their hey-days, ruled Coast politics like colossuses. They were ODM’s right-hand men. In this capacity, Joho and Kingi bashed the Jubilee government for every wrongdoing at the Coast. At one point, they threatened the secession of the region. Today, these critical voices have gone silent.
We have learnt that the Coast Parliamentary Group, the supposed collective voice of Coast parliamentarians, is a toothless bulldog. The CPG has gone underground, leaving the chants for the release of the arrested Coast politicians in the hands of upcountry politicians, notably, ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna and National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi.
The protests have meant that ODM is still the party to watch in Coast politics, even if its fortunes are on the decline. Without ODM, there would be no protests at the Coast.
We have learnt that the other Azimio-One Kenya Alliance parties, notably, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper and Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya, are mere spectators in the scramble for Coast politics. These parties have neither the local leadership nor the voices on the ground.
Last week public opinion pollster InfoTrack released findings to the effect that about 75 per cent of coastal communities do not support the controversial Finance Act 2023. Nevertheless, many people here are reluctant to flock to the streets in protest. The fear is that if such protests turned violent, they would lead to injuries, loss of property, or death.
A group of young boda boda riders clustered under a tree on one of the demonstration days last week told me in Malindi town that they were afraid to protest because if they got injured or lost their lives, no one would pay for their medical bills or funeral expenses. These fears manifest themselves across the Coast region. People are suffering quietly.
We have learnt that the Kenya Kwanza Alliance parties, notably UDA, ANC, PAA and the others, have lost grip of the Coast—or at least, their political pulses are not felt on the ground. This is in part because whereas many of the coastal communities are opposed to the Finance Act, the alliance’s local leadership has proceeded to support it publicly and in Parliament.
We have learnt that coastal communities are party-fatigued. They are fatigued with ODM and Azimio, they are fatigued with the ruling UDA party and its Kenya Kwanza affiliates.
Whereas ODM still has roots and structures at the Coast, UDA and its affiliate parties have none. UDA local leaders, like Salim Mvurya in Kwale county and Aisha Jumwa and Owen Baya in Kilifi county, have shunned local politics and buried their heads in the sand. PAA, Kingi’s party that declared itself the voice of the Coast, has gone silent.
In terms of political parties, the Coast region is a tabula rasa.
Mwambire and Chonga may not necessarily be heroes of Coast politics, but they are not the villains either. At the minimum, their arrests and incarceration successfully served the interests of their party and their leader, Raila Odinga.
Finally, we have learnt from the protests and arrests that the Coast region needs to find its own voice in regional and national politics. That voice can only be found through the formation of a viable regional political party and a trusted regional leader. This raises the question: who will lead the Coast?