By Leo Odera Omolo
THE weekend attack on Finance Assistant Minister Dr. Oburu Oginga in a Kisumu residential estate has attracted severe criticism from the local politicians who have described the incident as a sign of lapse in the City’s security system.
Dr. Oburu Oginga was on Friday night accosted by a gang of five armed thugs as he went to Mosque Estate to drop his second wife to her house when the attack took place.
The Minister had left Nyanza Club at about 11 pm in the company of his wife, an aide and a driver. The attack came as stopped outside the gate while waiting for it to be opened, but all of a sudden the hell broke loose when five armed thugs emerged. One of them produced a gun, while others were armed with machetes (Pangas) and rungus..
The thugs forced the Minister’s unarmed aide to lie down, while another went for the driver and demanded for the keys. The driver hesitated, but was immediately slashed with a Panga.
At the same time, some members of the gang who appeared to recognize Dr. Oburu ransacked the vehicle and took five mobile phones. They also fleeced the minister’s pockets and made away of with Kshs. 100,000 and his mobile.
A source told us that one of the thugs, told Dr. Oburu Oginga that because they knew him by name as the son of “Jaramogi†but they were starving without jobs and only wanted something small to eat, but would not harm him..
But politicians say they suspected the attack could be a pre-imitated and politically motivated, and that investigations by police should not take a chance to this angle.
A source told us that Dr. Oburu had left all his official armed body guards in Nairobi and traveled to Kisumu alone on wrong assumption that the city was more or less as his home ground and did not anticipate any threat for his life. In the ensued battle in the darkness, the minister’s sleek limousine was damaged with its windscreen smashed.
The minister according to sources, has a palatial house at Tom Mboya Estate also in Kisumu, which is in a very secured compound, but had rented it out and he is using the one at Mosque Estate as a resident for his second wife.
Dr. Oginga has another single storey house, which is located his parents palatial Milimani house overlooking the shores of Lake Victoria where he is living with his first wife Dr. Meary Oburu Oginga, a retired medical doctor..
The attack has been condemned roundly by members of the Luo Council Of Elders who think the attack was not an ordinary robbery but a well calculated plan hatched to intimidate the minister.
A member of the Luo council of Elder Mzee Stephen Othoo from Kagan Location, Rangwe constituency strongly condemned the attack on the minister and appealed to the Kisumu ;police to get rid of undesirable criminal characters .He said leaders in Kenya must always feel free to go their businesses unmolested by hard –core criminal elements within the society.
Mzee Othoo, a retired school teacher told the Bondo MP to soldier on with the good work he is doing to the Luo community and to all Kenyans, and not to succumb to cowardice and attack and intimidation, which are the work of the devilish minded criminal elements.
The soft spoken assistant Minister who is also the Chairman of Kisumu Molasses Plant, which is run jointly by the family business flagship the Spectre International Company in joint partnership with multinational firms from South Africa and Canada.
There has been murmurs and complaints by the local communities of Jo-Kogony and Jo-Korando sub-clans on whose land the Molasses plant stands on at Otonglo Market that their people are being discriminated when it comes to employment of the workers at the plant.
There are a total of 114 employees at the plant, but most of them are people who are suspected to be directly related to the ‘Odinga Family and their kiths’
At one time the local had circulated leaflets in which the community bitterly complained of being sidelined on employment. And though the majority of the employees are engineers and professionals, the locals wanted their sons and daughters engaged in some unskilled jobs such as sweepers, messengers and watchmen.
Locals have also voiced concern at the high degree of corruption at the plant in terms of discriminative employment at the Molasses plant, .singling out particularly for the scathing criticism the company’s Chief Executive Officer {CEO} at the plant Mr. |Israel Agina
Israel Agina has persistently came under severest criticism by the local community which blames him for practicing discriminative policy by way of ensuring that only relatives and members of the Odinga family and few political cronies get the better terms of employment at the plant. Discontent has been going on for the last two years, and even at one time leaflets have appeared in Kisumu streets, which were very critical of the management of the Kisumu Molasses Plant.
These complaints were, however, dismissed as the work of the disgruntled individuals who had approached the management for employment, but failed to secure any.
But It could not immediately be established and confirmed whether the attack on the Minister has anything to do with employment at the Molasses plant. Many people in Kisumu and its environs have dismissed the incident as an isolated case and perhaps a common case of robbery, which of late are said to be very prevalent Kisumu’s residential estates. And even residents of the posh Milimani estate are said not to be so safe in their highly secured compounds.
Civic leaders have called on the police to intensify evening patrols in most part s of the city, which are of lately appear to be unsafe for both lonely motorist and pedestrians alike. Other sources intimated that some hard-core criminal and carjackers who have fled their hideouts in Nairobi have now taken refuge in Lakeside City after escaping the hawk eyed Nairobi police ant-crime squads.
Dr. Oburu Oginga who is the MP for Bondo is being considered as a moderate Luo politician who is credited for being down to earth and easy-going man among his constituents.
Despite of having been brought up in a high profile political family of the late former Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the assistant Minister is credited by his constituents for having equitably disbursed the CDF and other government funds meant for rural and economic development activities in his Bondo constituency to the satisfaction of his constituents..
Dr. Oginga first entered the Parliament for the first time in 1994 in a by election following the demise of his father the late Jaramogi who was then the seating MP for Bondo,and successfully retained his seat in 2002 against a troop of five aspirants.
Dr. Oburu recaptured the seat in 2007. He was one of the only five out of the 21 Luo MPs who survived in the last general election. The rest were shown exit door, and although he seemed to be an independent minded person, Dr. Oburu is believed to have a lot of clout and influence over his younger brother, the Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga on both domestic and political matters.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:57:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: ATTACK ON MINISTER DR. OBURU OGINGA ROUNDLY CONDEMNED BY NYANZA POLITICIANS.WHO URGED THE POLICE TO ARREST THE CULPRITS.
Sorry to learn of the attack on Hon. Dr. Oburu Odinga!
I suggest that our parliament as a matter of urgency legislates and makes into law a” freecall state radio open line” just as it is the case in Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana, and the Republic of South Africa. This open line will definitely enlarge space for justice and democracy since it will legally allow wananchi to be free to:
1.name and shame corrupt leaders together with their crimes.
2.name and shame criminals and their crimes who are at the present time being covered by forces from above.
3.name and shame thieves of public funds and property.
4.name and shame assassins.
5.name and shame those who selecively attack ODM political leaders.
6.name and shame corrupt policemen.
Wananchi will be protected as it is in the above republics by the fact that they will be naming and shaming criminals but keeping the namers’ identities confidential in order that they are safe from heartless retribution.
In this way all criminals currently arrogantly enjoying protection from above will not only lose their lustre but also courage to commit crimes since they will already be known by the public.
The open line radio has scared off those who otherwise could be arrogant, corrupt, and assassins in the above countries since the law has safely handed power squarely back to the people-and that is where it belongs.
No policeman dare mistreat wananchi in the above countries because open line could not only render them jobless but also throw them into gaol.
Meanwhile I wish Hon. Dr. Oburu Odinga godspeed!
DR. ODIDA OKUTHE.
It is conventional wisdom that people imagine safety is guaranteed at home, moreso, where one was born.The belief does not hold nowadays.Criminals have invented New methods of planning and executing crimes.Hon Oburu therefore ought not to have left his security detail in Nairobi.His security detail should be with him at all times going by his position as a goverment minister.I join fellow men and women of Great Ramogi descent in condeming the devilish minded callous criminals who terrorised our son, sadly enough on our own soil.The Luo community has suffered killing of its prominent sons for decades and we would not wish to hear any of our own either terrorised or killed.That would be like rubbing salt to a wound.In a nutshell, I urge my fellow young men in kisumu and the rest parts of of luo Nyanza to expose criminals living in their midst so that the police and the communiity can deal with them to curb such unfortunate event in future.
As an American married to a Luo, with two half Luo sons…it hurts me to see this type of attack…it should never happen, no human being has the right to attack another except in self defense…but even more so when it is one of your own! We have watched the situation closely from here in the US…and it pains us greatly to hear of such things…