How Was Mr. Daniel Mwaura Elected Councilor in Bortkyrka?

Last month, an interesting development occurred in Kenya-Stockholm without provoking much pomp and fun-fair. Mr. Daniel Mwaura, a Kenyan resident in Stockholm, was elected Councilor at Bortkyrka Kommun with 138 votes to emerge number 11 out of a list of 72 candidates. A “Home-coming Party” is scheduled at the end of November. As Kenyans and friends alike continue to celebrate Mwaura’s success, it is, perhaps, opportune to examine and appreciate the strategy that accorded Mr. Mwaura victory in the face of stiff competition from other aspirants.

Mr. Mwaura contested on a Social Democratic Party (SDP) ticket, a dominant Party whose platform guaranteed him a head start, given SDP’s established role in Swedish politics. Previously, Mr. Mwaura was affiliated to the revolutionary Socialist Justice Party which he quit a few years ago when he shifted ideological positions to transform himself into a Social democrat, a bumpy process that prompted some of his comrades to accuse him of having abandoned the Movement at a time when capitalism was in deep crisis.

The perception among his compatriots like Mr. Martin Ngatia was that Mwaura quit the Movement when the radical left ought to have been regrouping, not just to address the crisis of capitalism internationally but also to organize opposition to capitalist policies that were ravaging populations, promoting poverty in the ex-colonial world and contributing to the suffering of millions of workers and the poor across the globe. However, the reasons behind Mwaura’s ideological transformation are of little analytical significance from the point of view of his election as a Councilor in Bortkyrka.

Once he switched parties, Mr. Mwaura began to entrench himself within the Bortkyrka branch of SDP and to convince top Party leadership that he had qualities that could deliver votes within the immigrant community in Bortkyrka. A significant advantage that worked in Mwaura’s favour is the low political consciousness (at the electoral level) of the African community in Bortkyrka, a weakness which translated into a shortage of Africans in political leadership within SDP branch in the district.  By joining the Party, strategically moving close to the Party’s top brass, engaging in Party activities and displaying a keen interest in leadership, Mr. Mwaura soon began to attract attention within SDP.

Mwaura’s entry into SDP provided the leadership with an opportunity to interest Africans in the Party with Mwaura as reference point. The Kenyan politician began to mobilize Africans to join the Party while preaching the Social Democratic ideology at every opportunity. Many Kenyans will remember encountering Mwaura with an SDP badge patched on his lapel during grass-roots party engagements in Bortkyrka.

Mwaura’s capacity was marked by his distinct ability to attract a crowd around the Party. This quality prompted SDP leadership to begin grasping the necessity of bagging Mr. Mwaura and converting him into a point man to reach out to members of the immigrant community. The main target was Africans who had notoriously exhibited unacceptable apolitical orientation in the face of structural racism and discrimination within the system masterminded by the Right-wing Moderate Party that was in power.

Traditionally, SDP has styled itself as a pro-immigrant-pro-refugee Party but the missing link at its Bortkyrka branch has been a credible and serious immigrant within the leadership who could help the Party reach out to the immigrant community with Africans as a key constituency. This is not to insinuate that SDP lacks Africans in positions of leadership. The focus here is Bortkyrka Kommun.

Spreading tentacles
In appreciation, SDP incorporated Mwaura within its leadership, a development that increased Mwaura’s authority in the Party as he schemed future strategies.  His admission into the leadership somehow buoyed him because it is during this period that he began to build a serious African-oriented support base, increase his political profile and make further impact within SDP’s power base in Bortkyrka.

As they say, charity begins at home. Mr. Mwaura soon recruited a group of loyal Kenyans resident in Bortkyrka to help him prop up his image. To maximize his impact within the Party leadership, he brought in the following Kenyans as back-up; Jane Wanjiru, Makan Macharia, Asha Malko, Kariuki Warutere, Cathy Maundu and Mutiso Kariuki. It is notable that these key personalities later formed the core of Mwaura’s campaign team in September which camped in Alby.

To spread his tentacles within Bortkyrka, Mr. Mwaura understood that he needed the support of both Africans and the general immigrant community. He began to utilize his best contacts in Bortkyrka to popularize himself within the district through a consistent “reach the people” program that was drawn by a panel of advisors.

Having increased his visibility through various political activities, Mr. Mwaura began to raise the specter of standing for election as a Councilor within SDP leadership, a move that ruffled the feathers of other immigrants within the Party’s leadership whose view was that the population of Africans in Bortkyrka was small and that granting an African an opportunity to contest in Council election would be a complete waste of opportunity.

Mr. Mwaura is a man who has fought many political battles since he arrived in Sweden as a political refugee in 1993. Once he understood that there was credible opposition that could complicate his plans to present himself for election, he slowly began to exploit the “Obama effect”. He began to sell the notion that when Obama first began to grapple with the idea of vying for President, he met with considerable opposition.

To counter internal resistance to his candidacy, Mr. Mwaura’s game-plan was to neutralize opposing voices by profiling himself as “The Obama of Bortkyrka”. The Kenyan is very outspoken and as the “the Obama” tactic began to take hold, he introduced the element of “racism and discrimination” which, he said, ought not to be allowed to creep into the Party to prevent dark skinned people from presenting themselves as candidates.

The SDP branch in Bortkyrka suddenly found itself in a difficult situation which had to be resolved. On the one hand, Mr. Mwaura was a key member who was actively recruiting into the Party while on the other, the Party was in desperate need of an African who could be cited as evidence that the Party was committed to the struggle racism especially at a time when the Neo-nazi Sweden Democrats were making disturbing media breakthroughs. With Obama having taken over power in the United States, the need to incorporate Mr. Mwaura into the electoral mix became even more urgent.

For the first time, the issue of Mwaura’s possible candidacy was taken seriously as election date also drew closer. By the time the ballot papers were being sent for printing, it was clear that Mr. Mwaura was already in the race and nothing could be done to stop him. In the meantime, his opponents within the Party cooled down their heels as Mwaura was also introduced to SDP Party leaders like Mona Salin who was the Party’s Prime Minister designate in the event of an SDP electoral victory.

After his name made it on the ballot paper, sky was the limit for Mr. Mwaura. He mobilized a formidable campaign team and roped in other Kenyans like Dr. Jared Odero, Mr. Tonny Odera and Mr. Clay Onyango to help with both strategic planning and actual campaigns. The impact was huge and with time, Mr. Mwaura became “the talk of town” in Bortkyrka Kommun which had all been “painted” with Mwaura’s portraits. With the support of  Mona Salin and the backing of former Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson, immigrants and Swedes alike began to understand that Mr. Mwaura was a candidate to watch.

When the votes were eventually cast and subsequently counted, Mr. Mwaura sailed through and now, he is a Councilor. Through Mr. Mwaura, members of the Kenya-Stockholm community are proud to have one of their own as a sitting Councilor in a district in the city of Stockholm.

KSB takes this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Mwaura and to wish him well. We hope that come 2014, Councilor Mwaura will go for a Parliamentary seat because he has shown that with determination, nothing is impossible.

Okoth Osewe

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