News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Oyugis Town

The densely populated Kasipul-Kabondo is one area in the greater Southern Nyanza region which is expected to produce the real fire works during the forthcoming general elections.

The Interim Electoral and Boundary Commission {IEBC} has since sub-divided the vote rich constituency into two parliamentary electoral constituencies.

The IEBC has renamed the old constituency, naming the upper side as Kasipul-Kabondo, while the lower part has been renamed Kasipul.

The renaming of the two constituencies all located in Rachuonyo South district within the Homa-Bay County is understandably in communal, political and economic interests of the diverse clans and sub-clans living in the region.

The original Kasipul-Kabondo is one of the oldest parliamentary constituencies in the old greater Southern Nyanza region. It was created in 1962 by the then Electoral and Boundary Commission, which was appointed by the British government’s Colonial Office, and led by a British University professor Prof. Mackenzie.

Its first MP was an American trained ex-school teacher called Samuel Onyango Ayodo who was sponsored by KANU. Ayodo beat a fellow teacher John Ogweno Oindi. Ayodo was from Kabondo while Ogweno hail fro Kojwach in eastern Kasipul.

Prior to the 1963 general elections, Ayodo had served for three years as a member of the White settlers-dominated colonial Legislative Council. He was plucked out of Kisii Government African School {now Kisi High School} in 1959 by the late Tom Mboya and successfully contested in the by—election to fill the vacant Legco seat left by the jailed former member Lawrence Gerald Ouda, who had won the South Nyanza seat in 1957 and became one among the first eight African Elected Members of the Legco.Other African el3ecedLegc members were Ronald Gideon Ngala {Coast}, James Nzau Muimi {Ukambani}, Thomas joseph Mboya {Nairobi}, Benard Mate {Central}, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi {Rift Valley}, ADONIJAH Obadiah Oginga Odinga { Central Nyanza }.and Henry Masinde Muliro {North Nyanza}.

Out of the eight African elected members of Legco, Masinde Muliro was the holder of a and Bachelor of Arts University degree which he had obtained from a South African University and Benard Mater who had a master’s degree.

Ngala and Odinga both had graduated at Makereee University College in Uganda diploma certificates in teaching

Oguda was arrested and prosecuted for flimsy criminal offence of making seditious and inflammatory remarks in a public gathering at Awendo Market. He was taken all the way to Kericho where he was hurriedly arraigned before the one-eyed white man acting as resident magistrate whose name was Capt. Grey and found guilty and sentenced to 12 month.

Oguda was freed from prison in 1960 after serving and completing his jail term and made an unsuccessful effort to recapture the seat. He was handed a devastative defeat by Ayodo. Oguda by then was aligned to Jaramogi Going Odinga while Ayodo was a political associate of Tom Mboya.

But in the 1961 “Little General election” which was called by the colonial office in London and which pitied KANU and KADU after the first round the table constitutional conference held in Lancaster House, London, between February and March 1960 Oguda was in the election race against Ayodo for the same South Nyanza seat.

South Nyanza electoral area covered vast areas as Kericho and Bomet and part of Narok Counties, what is today known as Kisii and Nyamira Counties,Homa-Bay and Migori Counties.

But in the 1069 general election that was called by the founding Preident Jomo Kneyatta immediately after Mboya’s assassination, Ayodo who had been a cabinet Minister in the post-indepedence cabnet waa given a thorough beating by a fellow former school teacher James E. Mbori –Yogo.

Ayodo, however who won the seat once again, bounced back in 1974 and successfully defended his seat in 1979, but lost it to Mbori again in 1983. Mbori was re-elected in 1988.

In 1992 during the first multiparty elections in Kenya a firebrand Dr Ralph Kopiyo who contested the seat on the Oginga Odinga led Ford-Kenya party dismissed Mbori of KANU and sent him into political limbo.Kopiyo was ousted in 1997 by William Oloo Otula who lost the seat to Eng Pete Otieno Owidi in 2002, but the latter died in the midterm causing the by-election which saw Paddy Ahenda winning he controversy-ridden by election. Ahenda lost to the incumbent Joseph Oyugi Maguwanga in 2007.

In the case of the Kasipul origonaly set apart from the newly created Kasipul-Kabondo, which it shall be analyzing in the near future the contest, may be headed for clans politics for the first time in elections history of the people of Kasipul, who consider themselves as shrning one ancestral grand father,Sipul sn of Rachuonyo son of Jok.

All the previous elections in this region have always been contested on personality cult and not on clans and sub-clans and superiority in numbers.

This constituency is divided down the sub-clan line, the Jokatinda Nyar Kamine comprisng Kodera, Kotieno, Konyango, the largest, In this arrangement the Jo-Kachien from Kachien location will provide the swing votes, just in the same way s the Jo-Kojwach voters have been doing in the past eletions.

Several names, however, are being floated as the potential aspirants. Some of the people beng mentioned have aleady hit the ground in their campaign trails.

Other would be aspirants have been heard advertising their potentialities in series of articles posted to the numerous social websites and news online, but have neither foot in Kasip for the purpose of lobbying for their votes and such they have been branded paper-tigers.

They included Kisumu based wealthy business tycon Eng. Tom Awino Okoko,a Nairobi based lawyer Mr Ochilo’a.

Geographically speaking, the incumbent MP Oyugi Maguwanga will have to defense his seat in the lower Kasipul, because the new Ksipul-Kabondo boundary realignment has placed his home in the old Kasipul near Oyugis, while the boundary re-alignment has left the MP’s parents in their home which is in the newly created Kasipul-Kabondo. He hails from the minority immigrant jo-Wasweta sub-clan whose origins can be traced in predominantly Suba regions in Migori nd Mbita.

The may have he option to either defend his seat in the old Kasipul onstituency where he is living or chose to contest the election in the newly created Kasipul Kabondo where his parent and family members lives. He is however, said to be facing lean time in the lower Ksipul due to his dismal performance in the current paliament because he is among one those legislators listed as not being of high performance. the ODM is the party of choice in his region, which has the highest voters registration in 2007 toppig close to 75,000

The newly created constituency retained Kasipul-kabondo owing to the fact that several sub-clans of the indigines people of Kasipul origins such as Kakelo,Kokwanyo and Kojwach were geographically included in the new constituency grouped together with Jo-Jabondo groups to forms the new constituency now called Kasipul-Kabondo.

The men considered as being serious contenders for the seat included the Meru based businessman Ong’ondo Were, Kisumu based tycoon En. Tom A Okok, Nairobi lawyer Ochilo, Norway based Dr. Otien Mbare and the incumbent MP oyugi Maguwanga.

Among these men Dr. Mbare and Sam Kotiende are perennial election losers in the area and have contested the election before in the old Kasipul-Kabondo in previous elections. In fact they include the youthful Sam Kotiende and as such they are not newcomers to the race.

However, the election in Kasipul could be complicated following the recent emergence of a cartel of power-brokers who are known to be shuttling here and there peddling pack dreadful lies and concocted information I vain effort praying other aspirants in bad taste.

Oyugis Town is awash with extortionists and power-brokers for hire and political hireling hunting for cash hand-outs from the aspirants using menaces tactics including slenderous tactics ad crude manner of peddling information. Some of the political hirelings and goons are either found in Oyugi Town huttling between Oyugis and Nairobi in search of the campaign resources, while engaging in slanderous campaign against their perceived political enemies either real or imagined

The main trading center is Oyugis, but there are smaller trading centers such as Kadongo, Sondu, Chabera, Ober, Ringa and Sikri.The region is served by the Kisumu-sondu-Oyugis-Kisii and Migori highway.

Although agriculturally rich with god rainfall, fertile and arable land ,most land are still laying fallow sparsely cultivated with exception of Kabondo region where farmers have turned into growing the money-minting sweat potatoes, tea, maize, pineapples, bananas, vegetables and other cash and food grains for domestic consumption.

There are any immigrant sub-clansi Kasipul such as Nyakach Agoro, Nyakach Jimo, Mugusero, Kagak, Jo-Osije, Koredo, Wasare, and many other smaller sub-clans which are not indigines.

Ends