Leo Odera Omolo
  Kisumu,10/12/2007
 
CAMPAIGN IN LUO-NYANZA IS MARRED WITH VIOLENCE AS ODM LEADERS ARE BEING ACCUSED OF APPLYING DOUBLE STANDARDS ON PARTY’S CANDIDATES

By a special correspondent.

Electioneering campaign in Luo Nyanza is already taking different dimension marred with violence being meted out to the ODM campaign team headed by immediate former Rangwe MP Eng.Philip Okoth Okundi and his Bondo counterpart Dr.Oburu Oginga and their colleagues.

The team has come face to face with the violence involving stone throwing by youths allied to candidates on tickets of other parties.

These acts of election violence are also sending wrong and disturbing signals not only to ODM as a party, but also to its presidential candidate Raila Amolo Odinga,the Luo political kingpin who is perceived to be in total control of close to 1.3 million registered voters in all 21 parliamentary electoral constituencies in the region.

On Saturday, the ODM parliamentary candidate for Nyando constituency Fred Outa was forced to flee after over 2000 rowdy youths allied to the immediate former MP for Nyando Eric Opon Nyamunga pelted his convoy with stones.

Several former MPs who had accompanied the ODM nominee who included Otieno Kajwang, Musa Sirma,Paddy Ahenda,George Khaniri,Dr Oburu Odinga and Jakoyo Midiwo were also forced to flee from Ahero area in Nyando district in huff.

The group was scattered all over as the former MP scampered for safety after the youth armed with crude weapons attacked Outa’s leading vehicle. One person was seriously hurt in the melee and was rushed to hospital for treatment while scores of people sustained injuries.

A day earlier the same ODM campaign team had a nasty experience in Usenge township in Yimbo Division, Bondo district .The team that compromises six former MPs included Dr.Oburu Odinga had to flee for safety after the rowdy crowd turned the heat on them for advocating the “three piece “ voting system.

Hell broke loose when Kajwang took the microphone to address their last public rally of the day just. But before he could open his mouth to sing his now famous “Bado Kuna mapambano “ tune, a man wielded a matchet (panga) emerged from the crowd and charged forward towards the VIP dais.

Sensing danger, Kajwang quickly jumped out of the dais and dashed for his vehicle as the rest of other dignitaries follow suit and scampered for safety with the irate crowd in hot pursuit on their heels.

The group had just addressed another peaceful rally in Bondo town to drum up support for Dr.Oburu Odinga, the eldest brother of Raila Odinga who is defending his Bondo seat against 3 other aspirants. He had trounced them during the party preliminaries but all of them have acquired nomination on the ticket of other parties tickets.

On Friday morning Raila Amolo Odinga while in the company of another Pentagon member Mrs Charity Ngilu witnessed an incident in which a Narc candidate Mrs Rosa Buyu was punched and pulled down of a platform.

Raila Odinga had climbed on a platform mounted on a track to greet a small crowd of supporters who had gathered outside ODM office located near Patel flats on the Kisumu-Kakamega road at about 8am.

Raila climbed to address as enthusiastic crowd and Mrs Buyu who lost the ODM nomination to a Kisumu lawyer John Olago Aluoch also tried to climb up to the chagrins of ODM die-hard supporters who roughed her menacingly pulling her out of the dais.

Apparently shocked and furious the two Pentagon members had to leave in huff with both rival candidates and their supporters in hot pursuit destined to the Kisumu Airport.

At the Airport Karachuonyo ODM nominee Eng.James Rege and his Nyakach counter part Ochieng Daima were conspicuously crestfallen.

Last Thursday at Sega in Ugenya the team was pelted with stones and other objects by a mob which smashed vehicles windscreen sending the MPs and ODM candidate James Aggrey Orengo to his heels.

Orengo was beaten hand down by a youthful aspirant Stephen Okoth Mwanga but the ODM headquarters for unexplained reasons issued the nomination loser Orengo with the ODM clearance certificate after disqualifying the populist Mwanga . The action sparked off animosity and hostility by the electorate in Ugenya against Orengo.

Mwanga eventual switched the camp and got nominated by ECK on a KADDU ticket and he is now tipped to be the front-runner candidate who is likely to beat an ODM candidate on December 27th during election proper.

In Nyakach a parliamentary candidate Eng Vincent Kodera was locked in by police after the mob of youth suspected to be allied to him had stormed and disrupted ODM rally in upper Nyakach. Odera is vying for election on Chama Cha Uzalendo party. He and the immediate former Nyakach MP Peter Odoyo had succumbed to defeat by the ODM candidate Ochieng Daima during the party preliminaries.

Nyando OCPD Patrick Mbarire confirmed the arrest adding that the aspirant was likely to appear before the court for inciting the youth to disrupt the ODM rallies.

Odera and his youths after disrupting the rally in upper Nyakach followed the ODM to another rally held in lower Nyakach where fighting later broke out between his supporters and those of ODM candidate.

In Rongo an ODM supporter Mr Gordon Achilla was attacked at his Ochodo Roro home in South Kamagambo by a gang of thugs believed to be allied to another Rongo parliamentary aspirant.

The gang padlocked Mr Acholla door at night and poured inflammatory liquid like petrol on the door and went away. He raised the alarm and neighbours rescued him. Police were questioning four suspects who were immediately taken into custody.

Mr Achilla is a staunch supporter of the Rongo ODM nominee Dalmas Otieno who had beaten the immediate former MP George Ochillo Ayacko hand down with the majority of over 7000 votes during the party preliminaries.

Luo electorates are up in arms against the defeated MPs who have decamped and sought for nomination in Charity Ngilu’s Narc party.

The Luo voter believes that Ngilu who was once quoted by the press as having pleaded with his Kamba voters in Kitui Central to give her back her seat and vote Kalonzo Musyoka for the president has no added value to ODM. She is viewed as a political turncoat and therefore any aspirant seeking votes on her Narc ticket stand no chance of winning the election proper in Luo Nyanza

This is what prompted the immediate former Migori MP Charles Oyusi Owino (Jalikowa) to abandoned Narc and promptly rejoined ODM presidential campaign team.

Those who still hang on Ngilu’s party ticket are viewed by the electorate as ‘traitors’ and would find the going to be very tough.

There are also visible elements of double standards, intrigues, undercurrent and undermining being noticed on the part of ODM leadership in regards to ongoing election campaign in Luo-Nyanza.

Meanwhile many residents of Rongo yesterday received an urgent SMS short message on their cell phone advising them to resist at all cost the impending visit to the area by the former MP for Mbita Otieno Kajwang.

The former Mbita legislature is perceived to be allied and political associate of former Rongo MP Ochillo Ayacko who lost the ODM nomination to former cabinet Minister Dalmas Otieno.

Ayacko has since decamped to Charity Ngilu’s Narc and is contesting the election despite having lost the nomination to Otieno with a big margin close to 7000 votes.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com