News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.
He latest flare up between the two rival sub-clans in Kuria district within Migori County in which thee people have lost their precious lives and close to 70 houses torched leaving more than 570 people displaced did not come about as the result of the traditional cattle rustling, but has some political connotation which need to be investigated thoroughly by the government.
There is something in the skirmishes more than meet the eye. The Kurias are protesting against a political party which is trying to impose an unpopular candidate, who has also long been suspected to be foreign, to represent them in the Senate.
The former Kuria |MP Dr Wilfred Machage is the official ODM candidate for Migori County Senate seat. The latte,r who is also an Assistant Minister for Public Works, has represented the community ever since 2002. He has served as an MP leaning on the PNU side of the ruling grand coalition and was also the deputy PNU party leader.
However, early this year Dr. Machage successfully persuaded the ODM leader Raila Amolo Odinga to accept him with a promise that this new arrangement would give “Agwambo” political mileage over his rivals by harvesting 100 per cent of all the votes within the two Kuria districts of Kuria East and Kuria West.
The Kuria constituency which was created in 1962 has since been splinted into Kuria East and Kuria West. Dr Machage had demanded that he be given a direct nomination as his prerequisite and conditions of rejoining the ODM.
Raila Odinga following intensive persuasion by his front man in Migori County, who is Dalmas Otieno, the Minister for Public Service hastily and readily accepted Dr. Machage’s plan as viable.
Dalmas Oteno while working in cohorts with some Luo MPs from the Migori County who included Edick Omondi Anyanga {Nyatike}, Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo {Uriri]. John Pesa {Migori} followed the arrangement with a series of night meetings held behind the closed door of the various posh Nairobi hotels.The group later tried in vain to sell the idea to the electorate, but they prove to be so adamant, forcing Raila Odinga himself to make a series of unscheduled visits to Migori in order to bulldoze and coerce the voters to accept that the Kuria community is one of the marginalized minority communities in Kenya and as such need pr0tection by way of reserving certain elective seats with the Migori County governance exclusively for the Kurias.
At the same time, Raila had assured the voters that nobody would be given direct nomination by the ODM and that all the interested aspirants would have to compete in the open for votes.
However, what might have been known to Raila is that Dr.Machage is not a popular leader of all the Kuria people. The former Kuria MP is not a member of any of the four major Kuria sub-clans livng in Kenya. He is a member of Abakenye, a small Kuria sub-clan living in the North Mara in Tanzania and neighboring Jo-Sakwa Kowak and Rieny Kowuoyo.
The major Kuria sub-clans living in Kenya comprises of Abanyabansi, Abairege, Bugumbe and Abakiria. Dr Machage is not a member of any of the four sub-clans and as such he is being treated by the Kuria people as a immigrant and a foreigner and specifically a Tanzanian.living among them.
Another Tanzanian Kuria who in the past has succeeded in sitting inside Kenyan parliament for two parliamentary terms of five years is Eng Shadrack Mangawho was elected an MP between 1992 and 1997 and has served in the defunct MOi KANU government as an Assistant Minister.
Manga is a member of another smaller Kuria sub-clan living across the common Kenya-Tanzania borders which is known as Ntimbaru. After his election, some Kuria intellectuals and politicians made a concerted efforts and even moved to court to have him {Manga} out of Kenyan parliament on claims that he was a Tanzanian and therefore a foreign an ineligible to sit in Kenya in vain. The case was thrown out by the court.
Kuria parliament seat was created in 1962 by the British appointed Boundaries omission, which was led by Prof. Mackenzie in 1962.Its first MP was Benjamin Maisori -Itumbo who was appointed to the post-independence cabinet as an Assistant Minister for Social Services. He had also served as a member of the defunct colonial Legislative Coucil in which he was nominated by the governor Sir.Patrick Renson in 1961.
Maisori-tumbo hails from Bugumbe sub-clan and had dominated Kuria politics for close to three decades. He was later replaced by Samson Marwa Mwita, and later by Walter Mwita.Al the three past MPs were the indignant Kenyan Kuria people.
By the time the ODM made the disastrous decision to have the the Migori County Senate seat reserved for the Kuria, several political – personalities had already hit the peak with their campaign for the same seat. Tey included John Magaiywa , the ODM MIGORI County branch chairman,
The result of the ODM nomination was most disappointing. Raila’s preferred candidate Dr Machage garnered paltry 51,000 votes against Magaiywa’s 72,000 votes. Strangely enough the ODM headquarters issued Dr.Machage with nomination certificate and denied Magaiywa his hard won election victory.
Those privy to information about Kuria politics have confided to us that the latest inter-clans clashes had just come about as the protest by the voters against the ODM decision of supporting the nomination loser while leaving out the winner. He skirmishes cannot be dismissed as caused by cattle rustling, but as the result of bad politics.
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