The Digo community in Kwale County has elected former Cabinet Minister Ambassador Chirau Ali Mkwawere as its spokesman.
The community members said the decision to have a community leader started just after the August 2022 general election and culminated in the selection of Mwakwere, a former three-term MP for Matuga constituency, as Digo kingpin.
He will be deputised as community leader by the first female former Msambweni MP, Marere wa Mwachai, while Prof. Hassan Mwakimako will be the secretary.
Prof. Mwakimako, who spoke to the press, said the Digo community is fully behind the new leadership council.
Digo is among the nine sub-tribes of the Mijikenda, which includes the Giriama, Chonyi, Duruma, Jibana, Kambe, Kauma, Rabai, and Ribe sub-tribes that largely inhabit Kwale and Kilifi counties.
Prof. Mwakimako said the new leadership council, known as the ‘Ngambi’ in Digo dialect, would be unveiled at a later date by Kaya elders at an elaborate ceremony.
He said in the past, the Digo community had traditional rulers and leaders through the Ngambi, and they are merely reviving the same for cultural revival.
Prof. Mwakimako, who teaches at the Kilifi-based Pwani University, said the election of the new council leadership will end years of disunity as the Digo community finally mends fences.
He called on the community members to maintain their present peaceful disposition for the sake of posterity.
“There is nothing wrong with the Digo having a traditional authority, just as is the case with other communities like the Kikuyu and the Luo, to ensure the protection and preservation of their traditions,” said Prof. Mwakimoko.
He said Mwakwere, a former Transport and Foreign Affairs minister in President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, would soon be installed as the spokesman by the revered traditional Kaya Digo elders.
“We must unite as a community for us to be respected by others and make an impact on the country’s political and socio-economic scene,” he said.
By Hussein Abdullahi
