Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga and have intensified their forays to the Coast in preparation for 2022 General Election.

The move comes as five political parties from the region formed a coalition to challenge the dominance of the big political formations.

Kadu Asili, Umoja Summit Party, Shirikisho Party of Kenya, Republican Congress Party and Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) announced the formation of a coalition that was formed under the banner of Coast Integrated Development Initiative (CIDI).

Speaking during a Coast Political Parties Convention in Voi, Bernard Taura, the director of CIDI said the coalition of like-minded parties from Coast would allow the region to have a common stand in matters affecting over two million people in the region.

 “We are coming together because we are all addressing unique issues facing the Coast region.

The formation of this coalition will allow us to have a common front in pushing for issues affecting our people,” he said.

He said the coalition is viewed as a vessel to challenge the dominance of ODM and Jubilee Party that have dominated the politics of Coast region for the last several years

Raila has visited the Coast three times in less than two months ostensibly to pull together the political support he enjoys in the region, but in the recent past, the DP is slowly cutting a niche for himself.

Both Ruto and Raila were in the coastal region over the weekend for several activities with the DP visiting Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa counties to rally the people to support his 2022 presidential bid.

He has sustained a charm offensive to dislodge Raila from the grip of the critical region. ODM enjoyed massive support from the region in the 2017 and 2013 elections.

Raila arrived in Mombasa on Thursday to attend the burial of ODM activist Hassan Chitembe in Tiribe in Matuga as Ruto toured Kilifi and Mombasa.

The DP held a fundraiser for the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya in Lunga Lunga.

“What we have seen here at the Coast has shocked us. The ground has changed and the people have woken up.

Every Kenyan wants politics of action and that is what the DP has been preaching.

The Coast region is now gravitating to the DP camp.” Meru Senator Mithika Linturi told People Daily yesterday

Politics of poverty

Linturi who has been accompanying the DP in his Coast tours warned that the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party will ensure the lives of the coastal people are uplifted from politics of poverty. 

“We want the lives of people of the Coast to be uplifted through the bottom up economy strategy.

This region has suffered a lot in the hands of poor leadership,” Linturi said.

Ruto’s tour started in Kilifi where he was accompanied by a host of UDA leaders. He addressed residents asking for the support ahead of 2022 elections.

Ruto later Joined the people of Kilifi North for Sunday mass at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, before flying to Kwale in Lunga Lunga for a fundraiser.

“Let us not overburden the public with new political positions by changing the Constitution, it is against the will of God,” Ruto said in Kwale.

Yesterday, Raila was in Dabaso Kilifi to mourn with family of Lands Chief Administrative Secretary Gideon Mun’garo and was to join Muslim faithful in Mombasa for the Eid UL Adha organised by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nasir.

Raila has maintained the plan to change the Constitution is not only made to create political positions but aimed at bringing development. 

Speaking during the burial in Matuga, Kwale County, Raila expressed hope that the plan to change the Constitution is still on course despite a break by the court, saying that Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is expected to change the livelihoods of poor Kenyans.

 “We want to change the Constitution through BBI, but there are those who are misleading the people that BBI is all about creation of political positions, this is not true.

BBI is about increasing the county allocation so that the people can realise development,” he said.

On the coalition, Matano Chango, the National Chair of Umoja Summit Party said the major aim was to have all like-minded leaders from the region on board to push for the rights of the people.

He stated that issues like squatters’ menace, landlessness, lack of jobs and violation of human rights issues would be at the center of their push in order to form the next government.

He also rubbished claims that the coalition of regional parties was entrenching the notion of regionalism and ethnicity into political discourses.