County News By Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo Town.

The contest for the Senate seat for the newly created Migori County has promised to be one of the toughest election races ever witnessed in the greater Southern Nyanza region in the recent years.

Migori County is laying in the far southern end of the now defunct Nyanza Province, and has a multi-ethnic residents consisting of the majority Luo, Kuria, Luhya,Maragolis, Somalis and Kisiis.

Some of the County’s outlaying parliamentary constituencies are mostly rural locations whose inhabitants are local peasants, but Migori Town and its constituency is a cosmopolitan constituencies, with highest population of non indigenous communities.

The population of the town is concocted by many immigrants from outside the district, most of them traders, petty traders, kiosk traders, matatu touts, cobblers, taxi and motor-cycle boda boda taxis, and civil servants.

Among the immigrants are traders from other district in Luo-Nyanza such as Siaya, Mbita, Suba, Rachuonyo, Kisumu, Ntando, Siaya,Vihiga,and other areas. In fact this is a fast growing frontier town which is the home to nearly all Kenyan communities, though its located right inside Luo-Nyanza.

This is because being a border town is a place of an open opportunity for everyone to try his or her luck either in business or illicit racketeers and smugglers of good across the border.

Migori is bordering Tanzania both on the land and in part of Lake Victoria hence its proximity for illicit trades and under hand dealings.

In the current parliament, Migori has five parliamentary electoral constituencies, namely Kuria, Migori, Nyatike, Uriri, and Rongo. But the County of Migori stands to benefit from the 80 additional parliamentary seats recently announced by the disbanded Interim Independent Boundary Commission, which was led by Andrew Ligale. It has been given two more additional seats, one for Kuria and the other one is the sub-division of Rongo and Awendo as different entity constituencies. This now bring the number of MPs to seven from five.

But what seemed to have attracted more senior personalities, is the very important position of the County governorship.

The entrance into the race for the Migori County by a senior lecturer at the Kenyatta University, Eng Jared Baraza is likely to complicate things for other aspirants.

Eng Baraza, who is a member of the world-wide Engineers Without Boundari,es has the head-start. One being an indigenous Ja-Suna and a son of the late Ex-Senior Chief Baraza, and a member of Katiba sub-clan of the larger Wasweta group living in Central Suba Diuvision.

Using his world-wide contact, Eng Baraza had secured some funds and also volunteers engineers from the US colleges who got involved in the construction of Nyamilu Water Project around Bondo Nyironge, which is now providing fresh water to close to 10,000 families in an eight kilometer radius in villages. The villages are now enjoying fresh water from the tap just to their doorstep.

Eng Baraza has initiated similar projects with the aims and objectives of fighting the water borne diseases among the rural population. The Nyamilu Water Project is a solar driven thereby making it the cheapest. However, the project had experienced a set back in recent months due to vandalism by some unpatriotic and mischievous youths in the villages who stole the solar system.

But Eng Baraza reported last week that working in collaboration with the Migori CDF offices, there is likely that the project would soon be allocated sufficient funds to install and connect itself to the Kenya Power and Lightning Co {KPLC}

Baraza, while speaking to this writer during an exclusive interview, appealed to the electorate not to elect the tired and retired politicians and civil servants to the so important position of County Governors. The jobs required youthful and energetic persons with higher managerial capacity to man the region resources and even source for external funding.

Other names being floated around in connection to the position of Migori County include that of Ezra Odondi from Central Sakwa in Awendo district, Ezra Olodi Okoth from Migori, the former PEO, Nairobi Mr Chacha Ogwe Prof Edward Oyugi Akong’o.

So far no name has been floated from the two Kuria districts which shared the country with other mainly Luo districts. The same could be said about the position of Senator for Migori Country. But more aspirants for both seats from the Kuria side are expected to join the race in the near future.

At the same time Migori County Senate seat appeared to have attracted the least number of contestants. Names being floated around include that of former two time MP for Ndhiwa Zablon Owigo Olang’, immediate former Nyatike MP Ocholla Ogur, former two time Homa-Bay MP Pharez Oluoch Kanindo,

Some of the aspirants have already hit the ground campaigning deep inside the villages, where they were seen driving up and down during Christmas festivities, conducting Harambee for this and that project, and praying in the churches.

In Uriri constituency, two prospective aspirants who will be challenging the incumbent MP Cyprian Ojwang Omolo whose lackluster and dismal performance has disappointed many constituents were seen driving up and down covering the full -length and width of the constituency.

Mr Martin Owiny was seen around Sibuoche and also Oyani Maasai, while his credible rival John Bob Awiti Otange had several teams of visitors to his Rapogi Ong’ora village home. The visitors were mainly supporters who had gathered at his homestead to brainstorm how to oust the sitting MP whose lackluster and dismal performance.

However, tensions are less in the usually volatile Rongo constituency. The reason being perhaps the recent sub-division of the constituency into two namely Awendoi and Rngo has lessened the tension between the supporters of two Rongo political giants, the incumbent Dalmas Otieno and his arch-rival George Ochillo Ayacko.The two have had their horns locked in the battle for Rongo seat ever since 2002.

The newly created Awendo seat will now have Ayacko on the different constituency, wile Dalmas Otieno, the Minister for Public Service will be left alone in Rongo.But for the two to recapture their seats in 2012 will be an uphill task as there are emerging young and resourceful younger generation of politician ready to take the two head on.

These are the changing pattern of Migori politics and more could be expected in 2012. The County is mineral rich and also rich in agriculture and fisheries.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com