News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.

The power sharing which was recently hatched and brokered by the ODM leaders in Migori County which resulted in the apportioning of all important elective positions in the newly devolved County governance. Will this work in favor of the Prime Minister galvanizing the Kuria votes for his presidential ambition ?

The answer is “big No”. This is because the arrangement which was brokered under the Minister for Public Services Dalmas Otieno in collaboration with few Luo MPs in total secrecy behind the locked doors of hotel room in Nairobi had excluded many stakeholders in the Migori regional political derby.

The original aims and objectives of this arrangement was meant to ensure the minority Kuria community, which is one of the smaller and marginalized communities, would not be swallowed by their neighboring Luo majority when it comes to the allocation of decision making positions within the MIGORI county under the new constitutional dispensation.

The idea was noble, though it cane very late and only after several Luo and Kuria political personalities had already launched their campaign for the various elective positions.

Under the new arrangement several positions a were dished out exclusively for the Kuria. The senior most of all was the coveted Senatorial position. The County governor position was given the the Luos, while the Deputy Governor position went to the Kuria as well as the County CEO and Speaker of the Regional Assembly.

Among the Luo politicians whose campaign trail had already hit the ground included the former Mathare MP and at one time a member of the East African Legislative Assembly, Gilbert Ochieng” Mbeo, A one time two terms KANU MP for the larger Homa-Bay constituency Phares Oluoch Kanindo. Also in the ace for the Senate seat was a prominent Kuria politician John Magaiwa is the current ODM Migori County branch chairman.

Migori County is a region whose inhabitants comprises of communities from diverse communities. There are thousands of Abaluhyia, Maragolis, Kisii, Abasuba and Somalis therefore it was a great mistake and miscalculation of the fact for the ODM having thought of the Lus and Kurias only.

There were several Luo personalties who were also eying the governor position. They included Prof Edward Akong’o Oyugi, a young technocrat Mark Nyamita, a member of the Kenya Sugar Board Zachary Okoth Obado.

The decision which is believed and suspected to have been influenced and brokered by the former Kuria MP Dr Wilfred Machage. DR Machage is a Kenyan Kuria politician whose family is deeply rooted in the neighboring Tanzania. He has been an MP for Kuria ever since 2002. But wanted to find a soft-landing spot after sensing that PNU was heading for political limbo.

The arrangement was readily approved by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who made two quick tour of Kuria region for the purpose of ensuring that the new arrangement between the two communities is harmonized ahead of the March 4, 2012 general election.

The new arrangement of power-sharing between the two communities was endorsed by th Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who made two quick tour of the region to try to harmonize the frosty relations between the two communities.

What Raila Odinga did not know was that Machage has no political clout over the Kuria people, though he has been their MP for two terms. He is not welcome in many parts of the two administrative districts of Kuria East and Kuria West.

Dr Machage had demanded that he be given direct nomination to the Senate seat by the ODM leadership to the chagrins of the voters and other ODM politicians Dr Machage was found of bashing Raila and the party. The former MP remained the most vocal of critic of ODM and Raila Odinga while he was serving in the coalition government as an Assistant Minister for Works on the PNU side.

At one time he was arraigned in court and charged with making inflammatory and hate speeches the charge which prompted his close to one year suspension from the cabinet

The Kura community is divided into four major sub-clans, namely Nyabansi ,Bugumbe, Bukiria. And Buirege. The constituency has since been sub-divided into two parliamentary constituencies and named by the IEBC Kuria East and Kuria West. It was one of the 80 extra parliamentary constituencies created last year by the ICEBC and endorsed by an Act of parliament .Most of the four sub-clans had close tie with their cousins living across the Kenya-Tanzania borders.

The Luos in Migori County vehemently objected to the new arrangement arguing that apportioning the political seats would mean balkanization of the tribes in the area, though they two communities have lived in peace and harmoniously in the past.·

The power-sharing issue had elicited the heated debate and argument , but Raila Odinga insisted that the Kuria must be brought to the mainstream of ODM so that he could harvest their votes.

When the ODM primary nomination was conducted in the region on January 17, 2012. Raila Odinga’s man Dr Wilfred Machage was handed down e devastative defeat by John Magaiwa who polled over 72,000 votes against Dr. Machage’s 51,000.But strange things happened, Magaiwa wad denied the nomination certificate, which was handed over to the Defeated Dr. Machage.

Magaiwa who had been steadfastly an ODM leader in Kuria for the last two decades was kicked out of the party. He has since reportedly sought for an URP ticket. But on the ground the decision made by the ODM headquarters of denying Magaiwa the party’s nomination certificate despite of his landslide victory over Dr. Machage has disappointed the Kuria people who have now vowed not to vote for Raila Odinga.

Other short-changed aspirants for Migori Senate seat and that of governor have jumped the ODM bandwagon. Other like Ochieng’ Mbeo have decided not to contest the election on other party tickets, but vowed not to campaign for the ODM and Raila Odinga in the area.

With the populist Magaiwa jumping the ship and joining the URP, the ODM should as well forget the Kuria votes. Also short-changed was Ms Ghati, a young Kuria woman who had vigorously campaigned for the Migori women representative. Although she had won in the primary nomination, she was denied the ticket which went to Mrs Owino Acholla, the wife of the one time former Migori MP was dished out to Mrs Anne Omodho Anyanga, the wife of the Nyatike MP Eick Omond

Ends