Reports Leo Odera Omolo.
The Orange Democratic Movement is likely to be in for big trouble comes the year 2012 should the party sticks to its usual tendency of nominating only individual candidates chosen and favored by its leadership.
A team of independent minded politicians operating within the County of Homa-Bay has vowed to ignore the ODM and defiantly have individual aspirants with high marks of credibility nominated to contest the various elective posts.
It was also learnt that the man who is favored by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga to clinch the coveted post of Homa-Bay County senate seat, the Immigration and Registration of Persons Minister Gerald Otino Kajwang’will face it off with the abrasive Internal Security Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode.
Kajwang’ is the incumbent MP for Mbita while Ojode represented Ndhiwa in the current Parliament.
Both men have been in Parliament ever since 1992 first multiparty elections. However, their performance varied with Ojode having very attractive track record of having achieved massive development for his constituents, while Kajwang’s record is not very attractive.
In the same context the former Kenya’s Ambassador to India and later High Commissioner to Namibia Lazarous Ombaye Amayo is tipped to clinch the lucrative position of the Homa-Bay County governor, while a Nairobi businessman Sammy Wakiaga is tipped to win the Deputy Governor.
Both Amayo and Wakiaga have yet to confirm their participation i the contest for elective political positions.The two are still serving the government i senior posts.
Amayo who is the youngest brother of the late David Okiki Amayo at one time served briefly as the MP for Karachuonyo under the KANU regime f the retired President Daniel Arap Moi following the untimely death of his brother and had proved to be a level minded politician and one of the most eloquent politician in public address in Dho-Luo.
If Amayo is still serving the government in senior capacity at the Foreign Ministry stands, his candidature would complicate matter for the populist former Country Director of Marie Stoppie Clinics Cyprian Otieno Awiti.
Both men hail from Karachuonyo constituency in Rachuonyo North district, where another credible aspirant in the name of Prof.Joseph Akeyo has already launched a very elaborate campaign for the same position in earnest.
Other leading personalities already in the race for the governorship include an executive with Microsoft Africa Dr.Mark Matunga, former Rangwe MP Eng.Phillip Okundi and the incumbent Rangwe MP Martin Otieno Ogindo.
In the new set up under the new constitutional dispensation Homa-Bay County is to cover the largest geographical areas involving seven parliamentary constituencies, five existing ones stretching from Kasipul-Kabondo and covering ,Karachuonyo, Rangwe, Ndhiwa,Gwassi and Ndhiwa and two additional seats which includes the newly created constituencies of Kabondo and Homa-Bay town and its environs.
The new group is reported to have vowed to contest the various seats whether with the ODM tickets or without. Those who have fallen out with the Prime Minister Raila Odinga who is the party leader have vowed to solder on even as independent candidate of the ODM nomination system will be seen to favor certain individuals.
The battle for the County Senate seat between Otieno Kajwang’ and Orwa Ojode however, is expected to be most interesting. Both men are seasoned politicians with the wealth of experience, though Kajwang’ will be leaving his Mbita constituents with very little and poor record of development and if not with zero blessing from the minority Suba community, which forms majority of the electorate in the constituency.
And yet, e Ojode still command the vote and populous Ndhiwa constituency where his development track record is the role model of the entire Luo-Nyanza.
Prior to the likely, but still unconfirmed entry of Lazarous Ombaye Amayo into the race for governor, two contenders were on the lead. These are Eng.Phillip Okundi and Cyprian Otieno Awiti, but this position is likely to change drastically, taking into account that Amayo,Awiti and Prof. Akeyo all hails from the vote-rich North Rachuonyo district.
The new alliance is said to have proposed to support still yet to be named prominent woman leaders as the Senate women representative to strike the gender balance. The rumor making the round says the women Senate representative position could go to the highly respected former Nyanza Provincial Director of Education {PDE} Mrs Roselyn Onyuka who retired recently as a TSC member.
Onyuka wh was born in Mbita, but married to her husband in Rachuonyo South is the darling of many people following her clean and very attractive and clean track records of service to the people, while the rumored candidature of Lazarous Amayo for the governorship has already caused great panicking among the other aspirant for the same position.
Amayo could not be reached immediately to confirm or deny the report linking him to the planned governorship. But Ojode confirmed that he would be vying for the Homa-Bay Senate seat insisting that he would stand whether the with the ODM ticket or without.
What is looked certain is the fact that the day when the Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his political surrogates would come and point out the character of people or persons they are favoring for certain elective seats inside Luo-Nyanza are long gone. This time around it would be the people to do the job of voting in any person of their choice.
It is also evidently clear that those aspirants who have already hit the ground while campaigning to capture various seats while purporting that they are the favorite of Raila Odinga will have it rough.
One politician in Homa-Bay who requested for his anonymity made the following remarks.”If Raila is serious in his presidential bid, we shall all vote for him, but on strict condition that he steered clear. He should give the breathing democratic space so that we could elect people of our own choice to the various positions in the County governance, parliament and the Senate,”
This tough stance taken by a number of politicians in the region follows the recent events whereby Raila Odinga was viewed as having launched indirect campaign in favor of the nominated MP Milie Odhiambo to clinch the Mbita Parliamentary seat in the next general election a opposed by the majority of the area residents.
Both Raila and his wife Ida Odinga while addressing the mammoth crowd of mourners in Rusinga Island during the tearful sending off the late Michael George Okeyo, former Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN spoke openly in favor of the nominated MP.
The Odingas had also spoken in favor of one aspirant vying for the newly created seat in Kabondo Herbert Ojwang’ during the burial of the latter’s father the former educationist Mzee Samson Ojwang’who was buried in Kakangutu East location, Rachuonyo South district three months ago.
In 2007 general elections, half a dozen of aspirants who had identified themselves as Raila Odinga’s political surrogates in Luo-Nyanza were defiantly voted out in several constituencies. They included Paddy Ahenda {Kasipul-Kabondo} who was beaten hands down by the youthful Joseph Oyugi Magwanga, Dr.Paul Adhu Awiti {Karachuonyo} who was defeated by Eng.James Rege, Peter Odoyo {Nyakach who succumbed to defeat by Polins Ocheng’ Daimas, George Ochillo-Ayacko {Rongo} who lost to Dalmas Otieno, Eng Phillip Okundi {Rangwe} who was handed down defeat by Martin Otieno Ogindo., and Charles Oyugi Owino {Jalikowa} who lost to John Pesa.
Those who won their seat on their own credibility and popularities have since proved themselves to be the best parliamentarians in the August House and hard working genuine representative of the people and even the staunchest supporter of the ODM inside and outside the August House.
Two other MPs from the region who won their seat o their own credibility and personalities include the abrasive Nyatike MP Edick Omondi Anyang and the youthful and technocrat Gwassi MP John Mbadi.
The likely political scenario is the expected political rebellion against those who will be fronted by Raila and his surrogates in the next polls. Watchers of the Odingas politics in the greater Southern Nyanza maintain that his brief sojourn in the office of the Prime Minister did not benefit the electorate in the region because all the important government appointments that came his way as one of the two principals I the coalition went o exclusively to his close relatives and friends.
Ends