News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

MASSIVE bribery of voters, political manipulation, nepotism and undercutting were the order of the day during the two days of the much flawed ODM primaries conducted inside Luo-Nyanza.

The outcome of the poorly conducted nomination primaries could spell doom to the presidential ambition of the ODM leader Raila Odinga, and perhaps ruins his chances of clinching the presidency come March 2013.

Failure to conduct credible and fair nomination primaries in many parts of the region has left many wounds in the hearts of the electorate who are left nursing the feeling that the Orange Democratic Movement {ODM} and its enlarged CORD alliance lacked disciplinary of making credible nomination in its own.

According to the chairman of the ODM election board, Mr Franklin Kipng’etich Arap Bett, who is also the Roads Minister all the nomination exercise should have come to an end by |Midnight on Friday. However, by Saturday morning, the voting was still going on in some places, like Homa-Bay, Ndhiwa, Mbita Awendo, Nyando and Muhoroni in total defiance of the IEBC rules.

What is most interesting is that one of the newly created parliamentary constituency in Migori, Awendo never received even one single election materials include ballot papers and voting boxes.

Awendo had ten aspirants, each of the paid a nomination fees of Kshs 100,000 bringing it to a total of Kshs One Million. But the aspirants had waited from Day one, Day two, up to Day three, in vain without receiving any election materials.

In places where the voting took places, the polling stations were marred with acts of lawlessness such as stone throwing and destruction of the election papers. In some places the coordinators and returning and presiding officers were forced to flee the polling station as drunken bands of hired goon emerged from the nearby “Chang’aa drinking dens, settled on the election materials with kicks and destroyed even ballot boxes.

A number of Raila’s loyalists were floored and forced into exit. Other who survived did so narrowly, but with flurry of complaints from their rivals claiming they were shameless rigged in.

Raila’s own older brother Dr Oburu Oginga suffered heaviest defeat in his ambition to become the first governor of Siaya County, forcing the election coordinator a Ms Monica Amolo, a perennial parliamentary election loser in Ndhiwa to use mobile tallyng centers, which the voters in Siaya violently disputed as not “ very credible’.

Citing insecurity and safety of her team, Ms Amolo shifted from Siaya Town where she was supposed to announce the outcome of the governorship contest between Dr Oburu Oginga and the populist Paul Oduol and moved to Bondo,.The voters were, however, not amused and saw the move as one way of rigging Mr Oduoo votes. It actually happened, when the figures were turned upside down with new figures reading that Dr.Oburu Ogingsa had [polled 62,000 votes against Oduol’s 35,000 sparking off the strongest protest.

Fears now persist that with thousands of voters in the region dissenting the outcome of the ODM primary nomination, the likelihood massive fallout cannot be ruled out. Those voters who feel offended after being denied the right to choose their own representative could turn into a major rebellion and cast their voters to Raila Odinga’s rivals in the presidential race.

In Homa-Bay County, things were so bad that marauding political goons destroyed or burnt most of the election materials meant for the various constituencies in the region. These included ballot boxes and voting materials meant for Kabodo-Kasipul, Kasipul, Homa-Bay Town, Ndhiwa and Mbita.

In some places the goons beat up election officials and party leaders sensilessly. In Muhoroni within Kisumu County one man suffered serious knife stab and had to be rushed to Ombei Dispensary in Nyando district.

In Kisumu Town East, the outgoing Shakeel Ahmed Shabir had won his primary, But the rumor went round that the party bosses were in the process of issuing Shabbir’s rival a Mr. Micholas Oricho with the nomination certificate. This deadly rumor immediately raised political temperature in the violence prone Kisumu City.

In the contest for the lucrative and powerful position of the Kisumu County governor, the excessively arrogant Raila Odinga’s sister Ruth Adhiambo Odinga became another casualities within the Odinga family She lost the governorship to the former senior accountant with the KRA Jack Ranguma who beat close to six other aspirant.

Ruth Odinga is the managing director of the Kisumu based Odinga family business flagship The Spectre International, which is managing the Kisumu Molasses.

This particular position was contested by among other aspirants Mrs Rhoda Ahonnobadha, former AFC regional manager for Nyanza and Western Provinces, the former cabinet Minister Ojwang’ K’Ombudo, Prof.Menya Kariaga, a senior lecturer in one of the US universities Dr. Barrack Abonyo, a Nairobi based business woman –cum-lawyer Atieno Otieno.

The outspoken Raila ‘s sister Ruth Adhiambo Odinga had been advised to abandon her ambition for the governorship by close friends and relatives, but she defiantly went on and contested the position fairing badly.

Other Raila casualties included the abrasive Nyatike MP Edick Omodi Anyanga, Uriri MP Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo who lost to a former Principal of the Kenya Railways Training School Eng. Kobado. Nyakach Mp Ochieng;’ Daima,Eng Philip Okundi, who contested Homa-Bay County governor, Raila’s cousing Jakoyo Midiwo, the gem MP

Other whose position remain unclear by late last night included Muhuroni Mp Patrick Ayiecho Olueny, Nyando MP Fred Outa who is married to Raila Oding’a cousin.

In Karachuonyo constituency also withinHoma-Bay County, the election loser ganged up hired drunken goons ws were heard singing derogatory songs saying No Adipo Okuome No Raila or Rege Must Go.

The song implying that without Adipo Okuome they voter would not votefor raila in his presidential bid on March 4, 2013.

This was so despite of the fact tat the outgoing MP Eng. James Rege had beaten his rivals hands down with a big margin.

ODM need to out its hoiu8se in order, and instill high discipline among the party youths.

Ends