Drama as Kizito and Alphayo fight

When I predicted here that Kizito would lose in the General Election, no one took me seriously. If you remember, Kizito, a close friend of my brother, left a relatively well-paying job in Nairobi to contest for an MCA’s seat. But what really happened depends on whom you are listening to.

“I realised the MCA is an important seat that needed serious people like me to come and pull our people out of poverty,” he told me one day. “This job requires a seriously educated person with high morals and integrity.”

While his education was in no doubt, there are question marks about his morals and integrity. The marriages he is accused to have broken during the campaign season are many. Sources will tell you that Kizito did not resign from his job. He stole some money from his employer then ran to come hide in the village. No wonder he can never go back to Nairobi.

“He never wanted to contest but after he found himself with quite some idle money, he decided to contest,” said Saphire. At the time, I could not comment for I was a beneficiary of the funds as I was helping him register voters,.

That was earlier in the year. Kizito was generous and used to treat us well. He would give money to church harambees, buy drinks at Hitler’s and would help anyone in distress. But his opponents came in just before the nominations, with real money. With more money, most of his opponents outsmarted and outwitted him. Most voters could not remember the many times Kizito had helped them, but compared what he was giving – usually Sh50 – with the Sh200 his main challenger was giving.

And you will all remember the day he kept teachers waiting at Kasuku Hotel for hours, only to come late and complain that the teachers had eaten more that he had budgeted for, and never gave anything except for a few t-shirts. That is the day he lost the teachers’ vote. Needless to say, Kizito lost the nominations, but still went ahead to vie as an independent candidate.

“I was rigged in the nominations but I can assure you the people are with me,” he told anyone who cared to listen. But there was one problem – he did not have money. To raise money, he started selling whatever he could. Earlier in the year, he had bought four motorcycles which he had given to some boda boda boys to run on his behalf. He also bought an old Probox that he was using for campaigns, and a plot at the market.

He started selling these to raise money for campaigns. A week to elections, he had even sold the car, and only one motorcycle remained. Were it not for the intervention of my brother Pius, he was planning to sell the plot at the market centre to Lutta. He also wanted to sell his posho mill but never got anyone to buy it.

You do not need a calculator to know that Kizito lost with a landslide at the General Election. Despite the confidence he had, he did not manage even 20 votes. Obviously, he was quite upset as his agents alone were over 25; and he spent long hours in his house brooding and crying and sleeping.

He seemed to have gotten over the loss a few days later, and when we met at Hitler’s, he was in high spirits.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said after a few drinks. “Sisi tumejipanga.” When he was challenged to say more, he informed us that he would be nominated to the county assembly.

“Lots of parties want to nominate me so that I can help the county make good laws as no one is as educated as I am here,” he said.