By Our Reporter.

Yet another aspirant has declared interest to contest the Nyando parliamentary seat come the 2012 general elections.

29 year old Leonard Ogweno Kwama, a lecturer at the KCA university is amongst the latest entrants into the race that has so far attracted four other candidates.

Other candidates in the race for the seat includes Patrick Lumumba [ the Town Clerk Malindi], Jared Okelo,[a local Businessman] and former Mp Engineer Opon Nyamunga.

The youthful Kwama said Nyando constituency which is currently being represented by Fred Outa was still lagging behind in terms of development.

In the past a section of the constituents have faulted the manner in which the CDF cash is used in Nyando.

In-fact the CDF’s accounts have at one point been frozen on claims that it was being misappropriated.

Kwama said that most roads were still in deplorable conditions and Rice growing which is the main cash crop in the Nyando was yet to bring desirable results to the locals.

The young educationist who has currently helped sectoral youths from the county ,mostly orphans to secure places in local universities and colleges through the work study program said he would revamp the under performing Ahero rice scheme into a profit making body.

Under the work study programmes , an institution of higher learning accepts qualified but poor students to learn and work for such institutions who in turn offers to pay for their school fees.

Most students identified by Okwama from Nyando are currently studying through the same system in a number of colleges and universities which he has links with.

Perhaps this could have been the reason why he beat other candidates during the national youth polls. He received a huge support from the youths and was elected the district youth coordinator beating 12 other aspirants and made a national delegate.

” What we need to do is help our farmers to reap maximum benefits through value addition. Irrigation should be scaled up by building water reservoirs”

Nyando is known mainly for the floods that hit the area every rainy season. The young man said the problem of floods has been made worse by encroachment of the wet lands which should act as buffer zones.

A part from the deplorable state of the road network in the area Kwama also want the security situation in the area improved especially the rising livestock theft cases.

” The anti stock theft unit within the police should be deployed in this region to curb the problem” he said He also hope to push the government to classify the county as a hard ship area so that civil servant working there can learn hardship allowance like their counterparts in Muhoroni.

Nyando has been a unique constituency in Nyanza in the sense that for a long period now, MPs representing it serve just one term and kicked out. Whether this trend will be witnessed this time round, only time can tell.

ENDS.