Writes Arrum Tidi Ogonglo in Kisumu City

The incumbent Kisumu Town East constituency MP Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir will survival in the next general election now hangs in balance following the entry into the race for the same electoral area by the son of the late Jaramogi aide and confidant.

Councilor Robert Oruko Otuge who is currently representing Kolwa East Ward in the Kisumu Municipality has announced that he is switching from civic leadership in order to plunge into parliamentary politics in the impending general elections.

Con Otuge aged 45 years was born in a political house. His father the late Alderman K.C.Otuge for many years was a close political associate of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. He had served as the overall chairman of KANU Young in the old and larger Central Nyanza district ever since the party’s inception in 1960.

The late Alderman Otuge ws among the first bunch of African to be elected to the Kisumu Municipal Council on KANU ticket in 1963 and later rose to become one of the three Town’s Aldermen before this particular rank was abolished because it carries colonial relics with it.

And when Central Nyanza district was sub-divided into two Coun Otuge remained the KANU leader in Kisumu district and later joined the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga when he ditched KANU and with the help of other formed the defunct opposition Kenya Peoples Union “KPU}.

Asked why he wanted to challenge the incumbent MP Shakeel Shabbir, Coun Otuge said he was just simply responding to the request from the residents of all the five Wards within Kisumu Municipality who felt the MP is a total “let down.”

The MP is being accused of helping the residents only by way of buying coffins for the burial of the dead constituents, but as far as development activities are concerned he has done nothing worth mentioned. He had sacked all the elected CDF and local leaders mandated to serve in the various development committees within the constituency. And instead he hand-picked his own men.

He scathingly criticized the MP for using his hand-picked sycophants to serve in the CDF. In turn his men have been dishing out construction contracts to unqualified contractors on “Kick-Back” who in turn have done shoddy work.

The disbursement of school bursary fund leaves a lot to be desired. People tasked for such task are outside who do not understand the people’s wish and not conversant with the goings on within the constituency.

MP Shabbir was elected in an electoral area where the electorates are 100 per cent of the voters. But he has adamantly refused to learn and understand the culture of the locals leave alone their language. He is working as an occupation force of foreign mercenaries and this is “Big Shame” to the local community to be represented in August House by someone who has no respect to their culture and tradition norms.

Infrastructure such as roads and communication, medical facilities re are all dead. The MP is married to a woman from Bukhusu sub-tribe of the larger Luhyia ethnic group after divorcing his Indian wife with several children.

Otuge accused MP Shabbir is being an instrument of confusion and pursuing the policy of “divide and rule”.

The affair of the constituency are poorly being managed and no meaningful progress has been recorded ever sine 2007when Shabbir was voted in to be the MP for the area at the insistence of the ODM leader Raila Odinga. The poverty index in the constituency is the highest in comparison of the same with those of other constituencies inside Luo-Nyanza, said Coun. Otuge.

He is allegedly extorting funds from the few Asian voters within the constituency and used their money n purchasing coffins for the dead. Our people did not vote for someone who is only interested I the welfare of the “dead” and ignoring the welfare and social amenities of the living human beings.

Otuge called on MP Shabbir not to defend his parliament seat. He should pack up and go, and the voters would like to have a dynamic MP who can understand their interests an can genuinely serving them with the objective of raising their living standards.

Coun Otuge called upon the relevant investigative authorities and auditing firms from external source to come to the area and carry our forensic auditing of how the CDF funds have been disbursed within Kisumu Town East constituency. The hand-picked CDF committee members have been spotted driving brand new sleek cars. “Some of them were people who only a few months ago could not even raise money for the purchase of bicycles”.

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