By: Ali Haji
NAIROBI—Leaders from the pastoral communities are in a last minute rush to finalise a new party. The process to form the new party is led by Mandera County Senator, Billow Kerrow.
A political party of the pastoralist communities in 14 counties will help address underdevelopment and perennial state marginalisation, leaders from the 14 counties said.
The suggestion to form the new party came to the light during the Pastoralist Leadership Summit held at the Samburu Simba Lodge in Isiolo County where governors and legislatures from Isiolo, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit, Turkana, West Pokot, Baringo, Laikipia, Samburu, Tana River, Lamu, Kajiado and Narok counties met with President Uhuru and his deputy, William Ruto to express their displeasure.
Kerrow said the party would not merge with any party under the Jubilee umbrella, adding such a move would further double their plight.
But cracks are already appearing in the new plan following persistent call by senior politicians from the pastoral communities led by the Narok County governor who called on the leaders to support CORD, saying Jubilee has failed the pastoral communities.
According to an official privy to the new formation of the pastoral party, Billow Kerror was invited by the DP William Ruto to his office in Nairobi on the 12th of February after it emerged that pastoral community were dissatisfied with Jubilee government.
“Kerrow was identified to lead the process of forming the party because in 2013, he convinced his community in Mandera County to vote for Jubilee,” the highly placed source said.
The new party is aimed at curtailing the anti-Jubilee sentiments in the mainly pastoral communities who feel that the Coalition has not turned out to be the savior it claimed it would be during the General Elections. That frustration has led to the pastoral communities accepting CORD as the alternative following frequent visit by the Opposition leader, Raila Odinga.
In North Eastern, for instance, the Jubilee administration has lost confidence due to a campaign by the security agencies with the backing of an opaque anti-terror law that saw a number of extrajudicial killings since 2013 when the Jubilee government came to power. And again, North Eastern province remains the only county where President Uhuru Kenyatta has not visited even after the heinous Garissa University attack in April last year.
Generally, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has not addressed the main concern in the region. On the campaign trail, the Jubilee duo promised to revive the Kenya Meat Commission as well as seek an international market for the animal produce, pledges that have not been fulfilled.
“Kerrow was instructed to lead the formation of the new party. The idea was to unite the voters in arid areas under one party in a bid to divide the support enjoyed by CORD in the region.
“By doing so the voter empathy enjoyed by CORD coalition would have broken into two—one group will support the new part while the rest will remain with CORD,” the source said.
Kerrow, being a senior politician from Mandera, marshalled the Gurreh vote to Jubilee coalition in the last General Elections. He was expecting to be given the Majority Leader in the Senate, but his plans hit a snag after Aden Duale won the same position in the National Assembly, a fellow Somali.
Bitter and unsatisfied with the coalition establishment, Kerrow used every opportunity to criticise the government. He also happened to be the only Jubilee leader who was detained for hours after he accused the government of being behind the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance in Mandera County.
But the Garissa Township MP, Aden Duale is not taking the idea of forming the new party lightly because it threatens his backyard. If Kerrow wins in marshalling the pastoral votes, then his is set to seize Duale’s position in the hierarchy of the coalition. The Majority Leader in the National Assembly stated that he is against the formation of the new party, saying pastoral communities have a bigger say in the ruling Jubilee coalition.
In the pecking order, Mr Duale is the third most powerful figure in Jubilee’s political hierarchy.
