Bartamaha (Wajir):- The mother of six left home on Saturday at noon to search for water, 20 kilometres away.
Ms Maow, a resident of Malah Libah, 50 kilometres from Habaswein, the biggest trading centre in Wajir South constituency, said she spent much of the time digging the river bed with her bare hand as she struggled to fill her jerricans.
“I have to be careful not to be bitten by snakes as I trek for water, especially at night.”
The water can only last her a day and a half before another 20-kilometre trek in search of water.
Her story is replicated in many households across the expansive constituency, one of the largest in the country.
Access to water is a major headache for residents of the constituency, yet the issue will not be a factor in tomorrow’s by-elections.
Here, residents elect leaders largely on the basis of a candidate’s clan. Burning issues such as poverty, water, security, roads, political parties and food are pushed to the periphery.
The constituency does not have even a kilometre of tarmacked road. Poverty and illiteracy levels are considerably high and only Habaswein town has electricity.
South Wajir constituents are members of the Ogaden clan with four sub-clans — Bagheri, Geri, Mohamed Zuber and Makabul.
Though none of the two main candidates comes from Makabul sub-clan which traditionally provides the swing vote, Mr Mahamud Muhumud Sirat of Bageri sub-clan seems to be the favoured candidate due to the support of nominated MP Mohamed Affey, who hails from the clan and is an ODM-K official.
The other is Mr Abdirahman Hassan, a Kanu candidate and former MP who lost in a petition filed by Mr Sirat.
Being in Form Three here, Hassan Ibrahim has an edge over his peers because he is quite enlightened by local standards. But despite his education, Ibrahim will vote purely on the basis of clan.
“The elders have already declared that our clan will be voting for Mr Sirat.” But Ms Fardusa Abdilahhi, 28, a mother of four, will support Mr Hassan — again because of clan.
Mr Sirat of ODM-K said he was confident of clinching the seat and did not need to “trouble” his party leader, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka. “I do not need to bring him all the way to get scorched in this sun,” he said.
“Politics based on clans has dragged us behind,” Mr Hassan said at a campaign rally. And unlike many elections, here one can hardly see campaign posters or convoys of cars with noisy campaigners.
On Monday, Mr Sirat campaigned in Habaswein town while Mr Hassan was in Hodhan near Wajir town.
Due to the entrenched clannism, the Interim Independent Electoral Commission had to deploy non-residents as presiding officers.
Mr Abdi Mohamed, the returning officer, said the level of mistrust between the clans was too high. “If a local presiding officer was to be deployed at a station there would be doubts especially where there is a clash of sub-clans.”
The seat was declared vacant after Mr Sirat successfully petitioned the court to nullify the election of Mr Hassan.
Others in the race are Mr Abdullahi Bulale (Narc), Mr Ahmed Ali Mukhtar (National Agenda Party of Kenya) and Mr Abdirizak Mohammed Ibrahim (Liberal Party of Kenya).
Notably, leaders from the key political parties have kept off the campaign, rendering it a contest between members of the Party of National Unity coalition.
The Orange Democratic Movement has not demonstrated any enthusiasm for the seat, only choosing to back the Narc candidate. And even then, the campaigns have been low keyed.
“As members of the same family, we decided that we are not going to wage aggressive campaigns against each other,” says Mr Affey.
There has been a particular keenness by the PNU parties to ensure unity even as members wrestle for the seat. Kanu and ODM Kenya are members of the PNU coalition.
“We made a decision that those in Kanu and ODM-Kenya should not be seen to be campaigning at cross purpose,” says the nominated MP.
Mr Affey, a former Wajir South MP, has been instrumental in rallying support for Mr Sirat. The two have a shared opponent in Mr Hassan.
But ODM-K leaders have not hidden the fact that they want to seize the seat from Kanu.
No doubt, a victory for ODM-K will be boost the party which feels that it has been playing second fiddle in the coalition. A loss for Kanu will add to its misfortunes after failing to recapture the Juja parliamentary seat in a by-election last month.
The electoral commission says it is ready for the polls. The constituency has 21,703 registered voters in 73 polling stations.
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Source:- Daily Nation.
