For Engineer Hamisi Chome, politics has been one of his longest journeys which eventually paid off after 25 years.
For 25 years he has vied unsuccessful in 5 general elections for a parliamentary seat losing to his opponents even after defecting from four major political parties.
But his prayers were answered during the August 9 (2022) general elections when he won the Voi parliamentary seat on a Wiper ticket with 9,418 votes flooring Mr Mlolwa of the Jubilee party with 8,426 votes.
“For 25 years I have been vying for a political seat. I was born and bred in Voi. I schooled at Shimo La Tewa High School in Mombasa and Nairobi School. I later joined the University of Nairobi to study engineering. I joined politics with no experience of leadership skills in schools,” said Chome.
His journey began in 1997 when he was 35 years old vying for the Voi parliamentary seat on a Kanu ticket which he lost. In 2002 he tried again on a Narc ticket but lost.
“You can see despite vying on the most popular party tickets like the ruling Kanu whose party leader was the late President Daniel Moi and Nark under the leadership of the late President Mwai Kibaki I still lost miserly,” he said.
In 2007, he defected to ODM but when the party split with ODM-K he pledged allegiance to his then-party leader Mr Kalonzo Musyoka but he still lost.
“I called myself into a meeting. I realized sometimes when traveling you reach a place where there is a ditch and reverse to strategies how to drive through it. In 2017 I did not vie but I supported Jubilee so I wasn’t idle but I never told my supporters that I had retired from politics,” he said.
Mr Chome said he explained to his supporters he was taking a sabbatical from politics after some of his friends and relatives tried to vie for different political seats.
He said after he realized he wanted to return to politics he left Nairobi to go live in his home of Voi to acquit himself with rural politics.
“I have worked in the government and non-governmental organizations before taking early retirement. I talked to my villagers and my supporters. There were times I got 12,000 and 14,000 but I was never voted in but this time I got around 9000 and won the parliamentary seat,” he explained.
He gives his success to God.
Mr Chome said he decided to join politics to help Taita Taveta residents grappling with water challenges.
“After getting a bachelor's in Civil Engineering and Masters in Water Resources Engineering I started working in areas grappling with water shortages in Baringo, Kisumu, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Nakuru counties. I realized people are suffering,” he said.
