Writes Bob Ndira-Uradi in AwendoTown.
The battle line is drawn between the scores of candidates who have set their eyes on the newly created Awendo parliamentary constituency seat in Migori County.
This is one of the 80 extra parliamentary constituencies country-wide which were recently created by the Interim Electoral and Boundary Commission {IEBC} and endorsed by an act of parliament.
The new electoral constituency has already attracted four aspirants who have already declared their intention of vying for the seat.
The newly created constituency w hived out of the old and larger Rongo constituency. It is located in area whose residents represented people of diverse communal, clan and tribal background, making it to be true cosmopolitan constituency in the true sense of the word.
Furthermore, Awendo constituency is arguably the smallest among other parliamentary constituencies in the greater and larger Southern Nyanza region. Its economic mainstay rotate around sugar cane farming and the Awendo-based SONYSUGAR company, a wholly government owned brown sugar manufacturing mill
The newly created Awendo parliamentary era is the smallest constituency I the greater Southern Nyanza region covering only Awendo district, which ha no administrative Division.except Awendo town,
Its area of jurisdiction is covering only for administrative location, namely Sakwa West,Sakwa North, Sakwa North,Sakwa South and Sakwa Central an area in which Awendo town is included.
The inhabitant of this constituency which is a cosmopolitan constituency in the true sense of the word represents people of diverse tribal and communal backgrounds.
Resident of the constituency represents the indigenous Sakwa people, who are occupying most parts of the west and lower parts along the Kuja River, while the inhabitants of the upper parts comprises of Jo-Alego Kogelo, Jochula who migrated from Rusinga Island in Suba region,
There are also non-Luos like the Luhyias, Maragolis, Kisiis,Somalis and immigrants from other major Luo locations like Nyakach, Kachuonyo,Uyoma,Asembo and Kano.
Owing to the areas proximity to the borders, cattle rustling business has refused to go away in this particular district ever since the country attained its political independence. These rustling. It borers the nomadic communities like the Maasais, Kurias who believe in cattle rustling as part of their cultural behaviors. Also the other neighbors are the Kisiis who are relatively much more civilized farmers. Cattle rustling have been a real menace to the residents, taking into account hat rustlers were now using sophisticated modern weapons like guns when executing their heinous crimes, resulting in deaths.
Amongst the individual political personalities who declared their interests in the new seat includes John Otieno Owuor, a Nairobi University graduate, who is currently working as the Personal Asistant[PA} to the Minister for Public Services Dalmas Oieno, who is also the incumbent Rongo MP.
Owuor is considered to be highly experienced in public service because before he joined the staff of the Minister, he was involved in the work with NGO and had initiated development projects of the infrastructure such as Schoos, medicare,women and youth groups.
Owuor is also credited for having been linked to the acquisition of school buses for several secondary shoos in Awendo, one of them being Manyatta Secondary School.
His work with the Minister has brought him close to the electorate in both Rongo and Awendo district and if he is to use his contacts with the voters, he will be advantaged over his rivals.
Another aspirant is Jude Michael Ayieko a former senior official with KRA who resigned his lucrative job with the government in order to contest the Awendo seat. He hails from near Pe-Hill Secondary School in Sakwa East Location.
Also in the race is the Principal of Gamba High School in Sakwa West Fred Otieno Kopiyo who will also square it up with Eric Oyoo who hails from Sakwa West and currently working it an NGO in Nairobi.
The former MP for Rongo George Ochillo-Ayacko who was expected to give the new entrants a run for their money is reported not to be in the race and that he has shifted his interests elsewhere, though he has yet to make his stands known to the electorate.
The creation of the Awendo constituency has now brought to abrupt end the bloody and violent campaign pitting the supporters of the two political giants in the region.
The two are now placed in different constit8encies with Dalmas Otieno remaining in the old Rongo constituency while Ochillo-Ayacko is in Awendo constituency. The list of aspirants may not be the final one, because the rumor making the round in Awendo and its environs say more aspirants are expected to join the race within the next few weeks.
The prices of raw cane is likely to dominate the campaign with each of the aspirants articulating how he will have the farmers in the region served better. There are numerous complaints against the management of the Awendo based SONYSUGAR with allegations of poor relations with the cane farmers.
The company, which is wholly owned by the government has recently unilaterally reduced the cane price from Kshs 4,800 per ton fro Kshs 3,800 per ton The farmers are complaining that they were not involved in the decision.
The other issues include the on-going cut-throat competition and scrambling over the scarce raw cane between the SONYSUGAR and two newly established sugar mills. On of the new mills is located near Oria market on the Ndhiwa side of River Kuja. The second one is Sukari Industries are reportedly giving SONYSUGAR hard times by way of unlawfully harvesting the cane which were developed with SONYSUGAR money..
Ends