Outgoing Kwale Women Representative Zainabu Chidzuga at a past event. [Photo/ star.co.ke]
Outgoing Kwale Women Representative Zainab Chidzuga is among the ODM rebel politicians in the Coast region who lost their seats in the just-concluded elections.
Elected on an ODM ticket in 2013, Chidzuga rebelled against the Raila Odinga-led party and found a new home in Jubilee, a not-so popular party in the county.However, Chidzuga's political journey was cut short on August 8, after losing her seat to ODM's candidate Zuleikha Hassan Juma.According to analysts, several factors contributed to her lose despite having been viewed as a favorite in the race.First, Chidzuga is from the minority Duruma tribe while her opponent, Zuleikha, is from the majority Digo tribe. As such, the numbers worked in the favour of the ODM candidate.Secondly, her frosty relationship with Governor Salim Mvurya, a fellow ODM rebel, made her lose popularity on the ground. Whereas Mvurya was accepted across the political divide, Chidzuga's political space became thinner and thinner as she had opened war fronts which she could not manage to fight alone.