Writes Bob Ndira-Uradi In Homa-Bay Town
The emergence of too many political power brokers gravitating around aspirants who have declared their candidature for the various elective positions within the County governance could seriously hurt the ODM gains and popularity within the greater Southern Nyanzaregion.
Residents say that there is an alarming upsurge and increase in the number of what one local MP described as “political banditry and mercenaries”
These political mercenaries have penetrated into the activities of many aspirants vying for the various elective seats such as Senate, Parliamentary, County governors and County civic wards representatives.
“These are the people responsible for chaos at public gatherings including funeral places. They have perfected in the art of minting money through peddling pack of lies with sole aims of earning free money or attracting cheap handouts from unsuspecting aspirants.
They are said to be on the running traveling all he time between Nyanza and Nairobi in search of cheap handout from the would be candidates and by doing so in the region.
These power-brokers are making the lives of the would be candidates mes arable .because this is not only extortion, but at me demanding money with menaces.
The residents have pointed out four administrative districts where the political mercenaries are said to be in full control as Migori, ndhwa, Awendo, Rongo and Kasipul Kabondo.
The brokers would be seen this week traveling in the some vehicle accompanying one aspirant to a public function, but within a week or they could be spotted boarding jumping onto the vehicle of the aspirants, depending on whose pockets are well lined up with currency notes.
And once a candidate run short of cash for handout, the mercenaries could be heard branding him as either PNU sympathizer or an agent of Uhuru Kenyatta, William to and Raphael Tuju, and what is strange that someone who has been so close to an aspirant, but only ate the company the other day after cash handout had dried up shouting at a public gathering.
Our investigations have revealed the startling and most intriguing activities of the so-called ODM power brokers. During week days, the group members are always found at the various public joins in Nairobi discussing politics the whole day while waiting for their favorable aspirants to come out of he work places and join them for the evening. At the weekend, the groups began teaming back to Nyanza were they do accompanying their favorable candidates as cheer up teams during public functions and funeral gatherings.
The next Monday the power brokers boarded country buses heading for Nairobi and only returning to Nyanza at the weekend, an yet none of them has any business or engaged on a gainful employment or business in the city.
A wealthy professional man from Nyanza who is working in Nairobi and who had made an early announcement that he would be vying for an elective position is said to have given up his original plan to contest the election after his pockets got dried up. The man’s pockets were milked to the ground forcing out of the prematurely. The would be a candidate is now said to have gone underground and even hanged all his mobile phone numbers or not answering any phone call at all from any person he suspected to be one of the power brokers an political mercenaries.
Another professional and had declared his intention to contest an elective position in Southern Nyanza is said to have lost everything including his firms offices which were closed down by troop of auctioneers. The would be a candidate for political office is also said to have lost his mortgaged house in Nairobi and he is now a tenant in one of the filthy City housing residential estates.
The ODM must also move with speed to install discipline on its officials at the branches. The same could be applied on its civic leaders at the various County Council, Town Councils and Municipalities A case in point is the deadly rumors to have been manufactured by a civic leader in Awendo town where Councilors are said to be sponsoring political goons. The hired goons go full throttle singing derogatory songs while driving through the town in a van while making slanderous remarks on a market day, when in office by the ODM if the party is serious about maintaining highly respect political movement with its disciplinary intact.
An incident which occurred last year at Kitere area of Kamagambo South in Rongo constituency where a rival leader working in cohort with other ODM sub-branch officials had hired political goons and dispatched them aboard several hired vehicles to go and physically disrupt and forcefully disperse. The incident resulted in the death of six youths who were hacked to death by the enraged villagers.
So far the hires of the close to six vehicles which ferried the deceased to their death trap have yet to be brought to book to answer the criminal charges. Nor have the drivers of the said motor vehicles been arraigned in court.
He ODM as one of the parties with the largest following in the country need to put in ace a stringent disciplinary measures aimed at deterring the money hungry political opportunists and mercenaries like party officials.
Ends