Dr. Evans Kidero is the Nairobi City County governor. He has announced he will seek re-election. He shouldn’t be re-elected because he has failed ODM supporters. Five more years with Dr. Kidero at the helm and the political tragedy will take decades to undo. We don’t have the luxury of time.
This part one is for ODM and CORD supporters.
Dear diehards, Dr. Kidero is neither an ODM supporter nor a CORD supporter. When was the last time you saw him participate in your affairs?
He has always been busy, or absent, or dismissive of whatever it is you were doing, right?
The worst thing is; should Kidero get the ODM/CORD ticket for a second term; and voters decide to punish him, they will also be punishing our party and our coalition.
You think this is a joke? Right now the African National Congress of SOuth Africa is reeling from passive losses because the party took its supporters for granted. The ANC lost control of major cities in SOuth Africa because voters were tired of the politicians ANC fronted.
They didn’t turn out to vote. Many just stayed at home. And with that, the other parties got enough seats to create hung councils which led to coalitions. Because it never prepared, and never saw it coming; the ANC couldn’t believe they no longer control the cities they’ve controlled since South Africa independence. Some politicians of ANC who lost, died.
Yet, Kidero’s failures are not the undoing of ODM, the political party that sponsored him to power, or of CORD.
Kidero’s failures – and they are many – have been caused by himself. Kidero abandoned ODM the moment he got elected. In fact; over the last four years, he has made it clear to all who care to listen that he won his seat without the ‘help’ of ODM.
He often adds the rider that he has ‘helped’ ODM more than the party has ‘helped’ him. I am not so close to ODM inner sanctums to know what he has done for the party. What I know is that sometimes the party struggles financially.
I also know that it has not been a free ride for the party in Nairobi, like, say, it has been in Mombasa, or Kakamega.
ODM and CORD are poorer with Kidero as governor of Nairobi. This is a fact. It is part of the reason one of the worst nightmares of the CORD coalition – from what I gather – is how to retain the seat of governor of Nairobi.
Kidero has a dim view of CORD and ODM voters. He believes they don’t matter. He is convinced his money – which is made off illegal sugar importation (or something to that effect) will make every voter squelch when time comes.
To ODM and CORD supporters; Kidero is among the hundreds of aspirants for next year’s polls who must be judged on their own merits; without wearing our party or our coalition’s glasses.
He is among those who used our party to get to power.
When you turn up to the ballot; you must judge Kidero on his aloofness; his myriad scandals; his arrogance; his lack of appreciation to the political ideals of the party and coalition that sponsored him to City Hall and, finally, his record on job creation, his record on affordable housing; his record on improved transport infrastructure and so forth.
While there are rumours ODM ticket for Nairobi van go to another candidate, punishing Dr. Kidero must happen in whatever party he decides to vie on. If he gets ODM ticket again, punishing him on ODM ticket will be exacting a revenge. He took the grassroots for granted. He must rue it.
You must judge Kidero on what he has done to ODM supporters. Make no mistake, there is a reason Uhuru regime is filled with two tribes. There is a reason a government is said to be a ‘democrat-led government’ or a ‘republican-led government’.
Political spoils are shared, first and foremost, among political supporters. That’s a fact. For Kidero, he formed government through the sweat and toil of ODM and CORD then turned every single spoil to Jubilee. City Hall is the Headquarters of JAP wheeler-dealings.
To ODM supporters, do we want five more years of JAP wheeler-dealing in city hall or do we want a government that reflects our ideals, and respects our voices? Do we want five more years of political disloyalty? The answer is in punishing Dr. Kidero.
Doing so will send a clear message to future politicians on our ticket not to take the grassroots for granted.
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