Former Kwale governor aspirant Chirau Ali Mwakwere at a past event. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
After losing in two consecutive elections, the curtains could be falling on former Matuga MP Chirau Ali Mwakwere's checkered political career.Using NARC as his political vehicle during the 2002 elections, Mwakere rose to the national limelight when he clinched the Matuga MP seat and immediately earned himself a slot in the cabinet.After Raila Odinga's wing of the coalition fell out with former President Mwai Kibaki, Mwakwere was given a powerful portfolio, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, just to underscore his importance in the Kibaki regime.With Raila challenging Kibaki during the 2007 elections, the Matuga MP became an important cog of the presidential winning machine and his role was to water down Raila and Najib Balala's influence in the Coast region.Running on an ODM ticket, Raila's party swept majority parliamentary seats in the region with Mwakwere narrowly surviving the wave. But his celebration was short lived as his win was nullified in 2010.In the 2010 December by-election, Mwakwere once again survived as he narrowly beat ODM's Hassan Mwanyoha. And immediately after his win, he bounced back to the cabinet.With new political realignments taking shape in the run to the 2013 elections, he joined William Ruto-led URP to springboard his ambitions to be elected the first Senator of Kwale. This is where his troubles started.Mwakwere lost to ODM's Boy Juma Boy, who had been in the political cold for over 20 years. However, his Jubilee coalition came to his rescue and was offered ambassadorial job in Tanzania.Keen to make a swift return into politics in 2017, the former MP resigned from his diplomatic mission and threw himself once again into the ring, and this time round, he was vying for governor.Mwakwere was banking on the NASA wave that was sweeping across the region to outsmart the incumbent, Salim Mvurya who had decamped from ODM to Jubilee.He succumbed to another humiliating defeat at the hands of Mvurya and in the process dimmed his dreams to control the county's billions.The 72-year-old is at the twilight of his political career and his future in politics is pegged on whether NASA will defeat Jubilee in the repeat presidential election where a loss for the opposition will deal him a double blow.