Reports Ndira Uradi In Awendo Town
The campaign for different elective positions inside Luo-Nyanza has taken dangerous dimension, which is causing serious breakdown to the safety of innocent people, especially funeral goers.
Taking into account the fresh incident which occurred in Rongo district in which six people were hacked to death after factional confrontation between the different groups of the ODM, fears now persist of possible recurrence of similar incident, particularly when funeral homes are turned into political venues of confrontations.
An incident occurred last Saturday in Kokuro village in Central Sakwa, Awendo district,m which is still part of the Rongo constituency. It was during the buria of the late Zacharia Omolo, the ODM sub-branch chairman for Central Sakwa location.
Two parliamentary aspirants were in attendance. They were the two time former MP for the larger Homa-Bay Phares Ouoch Kanindo and the as[prant for Awendo parliamentary sea Fred Otieno Kopiyo, who is the Principal of Gamba Secondary School.
Also in attendance were a nominated Councilor in Awendo Ton Council Odera Awene, Coun Gordon Achilla from Kamagambo South Ward and and Councilor David Ndira of Awendo Town Council. The chairman of Awendo Town Council Coun Johnson Omolo Owiro was also in attendance.
The deceased was a member of the Luo Nomiya Church which had sent it priest to conduct the Christian burial ceremony.and after the church had completed its preaching it became the turn of the politicians and members of the provincial Administration to make their speeches when the church all of sudden moved in and decided to conduct a parallel ceremony/With two speakers talking loudly within the funeral home, the entire funeral goers became confused.
The church insisted that politicians were wasting their time and they wanted to complete the solemn burial ceremony. The politicians on the other side decided that each prominent politician inn attendance must be given a chance to address the mourners. As the situation threatened to get out of hands, someone in the crowd shouted calling for the intervention of the ODM youths who in turn swiftly swung into action ready to beat up the church men. The mourners got scampered and run into different directions fearing the confrontation could led to physical combat. Women and children run helter salter and within minutes the unreal home was deserted.
The trouble had started when a civic leader from Nyatike whose name was only given as Coun.Nyakwaka from Nyandiwa told the mourners to support Phares Oluo Kanindo in his bid to get elected to the Senate. Coun. Nyakwaka is a member of PNU. It could be remembered that in 2008 all the elected civic leaders in Nyatike were members of the PNU after confusion within ODM secretariat and the party failed to present its candidates. It took close to six months before the PNU councilors could be sworn into office. They had fled across the borer and went into self-impose exile in the neighboring Tanzania fearing for their lives.
During the same election Phares Oluoch Kanindo had contested the election of Ford People Party’s ticket after losing out in ODM. Ford People is an affiliates of the PNU, and this provoked shout s of PNU.. PNU..PNU.. Among the mourners making the situation much more aggravated to an extent of degenerating to physical combat.
It has been noted that some aspirants for the various positions of governance in the Counties, parliament and senate have of ately made it a point of attending each and every funeral in the villages for the purpose of selling their policies to the electorate, even in the homesteads where they are not known. They do attend funerals of people they don’t know, but only wanted to be heard by the voters and this is another source of uneasiness and physical confrontation, especially when the bereaved families resisted this kind of move.
Musicians in Luo-Nyanza are also not left behind. They are mining thousands of shillings from parliamentary .governors and Senate aspirants by way of composing hastily composed songs of praise aimed at promoting the image of their preferred candidate. The worse are those involving in Ohangla instruments musics and that playing in some live bands at the various public joins. Funeral homes are no loner the preserve of the bereaved families owing to invasion by the various interested groups.
Ends