MAGARINI

HON. AMASON KINGI JEFFA, MP
Minister for East African Cooperation


Immedate former MP: Harrison Garama Kombe

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Court rejects petition against Magarini MP

Story by DANIEL NYASSY
DAILY NATION
Publication Date: 7/12/2008

A petition filed against Magarini MP Mr Amason Kingi Jeffah has been dismissed by the High Court in Malindi. High Court judge Justice Hellen Awino Omolo cited several irregularities in the filing of the petition by a loser in last year’s General Election, Mr Franco Esposito.

Justice Omolo said the petitioner failed to reply to a sworn affidavit on February 13 this year, thus making his evidence against what he claimed were irregularities in the election invalid.
Mr Esposito was also said to have failed to pay security for the costs of the petition, said the judge. The court said Mr Esposito also failed to serve Mr Kingi with a petition notice on time. “The time for service of the petition lapsed on 28th January 2008 and by February 1 2008, it was out of time according to the National Assembly and Presidential Election Act Cap 7,” said the judge.

“On facts and evidence, the application (for the dismissal of the petition) is merited. On law, it is well grounded. Accordingly, the consolidated application succeeds. The upshot is that the petition is dismissed with costs to the first, second and third respondents”. The second and third respondents are the returning officer, Ms Amina Kale while the Electoral Commission of Kenya is the third respondent. The case, which took five months, was the first petition case in the Malindi High Court.
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MAGARINI NIGHTMARE FOR PARTIES

ERICK OTIENO & ABDALLAH SEIF

THE Magarini by-election that was billed as a test of the political might of Narc Kenya and the Orange Democratic Movement Kenya (ODM-K) ahead of the December General Election has into a nightmare for the parties.The acrimony that has characterised the nominations of the two parties' candidates in the by-election has fomented divisions within the parties that may take a long time to heal. According to political pundits the schisms that have hit the two main contenders for the forthcoming General Election may witness political alignments.The nomination of candidates to represent the two parties in the polls slated for May 14 has brought out underlying enmity among leaders of the two parties, especially supremacy battles in the Coast Province since the death of Kiasuni MP Karisa Maitha.

And the divisions that marked the search for candidates could be a clue to what awaits the parties at the nominations for parliamentary and civic candidates for the December polls.In Narc Kenya, the differences pitting Transport Minister, Ali Chirau Mwakwere and Justice Assistant Minister, Danson Mungatana will negatively impact on the party’s already shaky unity and spill to the General Election where they are expected to play pivotal roles in campaigning for Narc Kenya in entire Coast Province.While Mungatana (Garsen) wanted Narc Kenya to field a candidate in the by-election his Matuga counterpart Mwakwere rallied behind the immediate former MP, Harrison Kombe who is defending his seat on a Shirikisho ticket.Mungatana had hit the campaign trail drumming up support for his preferred candidate Franco Esposito, a Kenyan of Italian extract even as other Coast leaders led by Mwakwere insisted on Kombe, a fellow Mijikenda, as their choice.

Yesterday, Mungatana told the Sunday Times that he will not participate in the campaigns and dismissed Shirikisho as a party whose sole aim was to curve out Coast Province from the entire country.Narc-K had four aspirants battling for its ticket until Thursday when they were invited to State House and prevailed upon to step down for Kombe.Three of the candidates, Esposito, Rev Mweni Katiso and Simon Kahindi were treated yesterday by theVice President, Moody Awori at his Funyula home in Busia where he thanked them for accepting to step down for Kombo.They were accompanied to the meeting by the party’s interim chairman, Asman Kamama, National Heritage Minister, Rashid Shakombo and the party’s Chief Whip, Jayne Kihara, who is also the Naivasha MP.

Awori on his part noted the move by the three to withdraw from the race was brave, and would go a long way in strengthening the nascent party’s unity in the constituency.He said their decision to support Kombe was in the spirit of the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which the former MP has been a keen supporter.But Mungatana while ruling out any wrangling in the party over the by-election maintained Narc-K should not have opted out of the poll in favour of an Opposition party.He said the tenets of Shirikisho as a party were different from those of Narc-K which preaches the spirit of one nation, one people.“There are no feuds in the party, what we have is a group of people who are trying to push a candidate from the Opposition to be elected,” he said on phone.In the ODM-K, the nominations exercise that ended yesterday after Jefwa Kingi was declared the winner was marked with violence in various polling station.

Kingi was declared the winner after he garnered 1495 votes against his closest rival, Ahmed M Ali who had 758 votes followed by Stephen Taura (399), Willy Mure (173) and Jeremiah Kadzungu (73). The exercise was characterised by fist fights, and allegations of vote buying across the polling centres.The search for the party’s candidate brought out political differences between presidential hopefuls Raila Odinga and Kalozo Musyoka with allies of the two leaders campaigning for different candidates.Allies of the two presidential aspirants had positioned themselves in the area just days after the seat was declared vacant with each faction trying to impose a candidate for the party.Like Mwakwere and Mungatana, the ODM-K debacle pitted Mvita MP, Najib Balala and his Malindi counterpart Lucas Maitha.

The two almost exchanged blows last week at the Malindi Eden Rock Hotel before the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary Mumbi Ngaru following disagreements over the mode of nomination.Balala was said to be pushing for the direct nomination of Kingi, a lawyer, an idea that did not go down well with Maitha who insisted the party pull out of the race and support the immediate former MP whose election was nullified by court.Kombe is tipped to win the race following support from parties in the GNU including Ford Kenya whose chairman has pledged to personally campaign for him.
SUNDAY TIMES,
April 22, 2007
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Leaders throw their weight behind Kombe
Story by NATION Correspondents

Four Mijikenda MPs and elders have vowed to campaign for the re-election of former Magarini MP Harrison Kombe during the May 14 by-election.Led by the community’s chairman, Mr Ali Said Chizondo, the leaders said Mr Kombe’s election had not been nullified due to “any slip-up on his part.”The leaders were Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, assistant ministers Joseph Kingi and Anania Mwaboza as well as Kinango MP Gonzi Rai.

The four vowed to convince the Magarini electorate to give him the opportunity to complete projects he had initiated.“There are only five months or so before Parliament is dissolved. By electing a new person as MP, Magarini residents will be putting an amateur who will finish his term without implementing any project,” said Mr Mwakwere in his capacity as Mijikenda spokesman during a press conference in Mombasa yesterday.
Major surprise
They said they will visit Magarini tomorrow to drum up support for Mr Kombe.Their stand is in direct conflict with that of assistant minister Danson Mungatana who has been campaigning for Mr Franco Esposito, a Kenyan of Italian origin, to stand on a Narc-Kenya ticket.Mr Mwakwere warned Mr Mungatana to prepare for a major surprise.ODM presidential hopeful Najib Balala and Malindi MP Lucas Maitha will lead the party’s campaign in Magarini.
Conduct nomination
Mr Maitha said the party would conduct its nomination on April 20. Five ODM aspirants for the seat will be interviewed by a team to be chaired by secretary-general Anyang Nyong’o in Malindi tomorrow.On the other hand, Narc-Kenya has cleared two candidates for their nomination set for April 21.“The by-election will be a litmus test for parties ahead of the December General Election. Its results will greatly tell Kenyans what will happen in December,” said Mr Balala in Malindi yesterday. He said the party had a point to make in Magarini.
Daily Nation
16 April 2007