POLITICAL MAGMA STIL FLOWING IN MIGORI COUNTY

The common practice by the ODM leaders inside Luo-Nyanza if ferrying mobile cheering crowd comprises of political goons from one place to the other for the purpose of booing and heckling of their perceived political enemies is the major source of discontent and insecurity recently witnessed in nearly all the public functions in the region.

The latest of such unbecoming practices was witnessed during the burial of Mzee Nelson Onyango at Kanyuor village, Central Kadem location, Nyatike constituency of Migori county. The deceased was the father of Dennis Onyango who is the communication officer of Raila Odinga.

Hundreds of political goons were hired and ferried to the funeral’s home in trucks, vehicles, and matatus from as far places as Rapogi, Awendo, Rongo, Uriri and Migori town. These goons had no business travelling such a lengthy distance to attend the funeral of the man they did not know. They were suspected to have been sent to the home by the embattled Migori governor Okoth Obado.

The majority of the goons were identified as having come from governor Obado’s rural Rapogi home in Uriri subcounty, a distance of 45 kilometres to the funeral home. The purpose, according to sources was to antagonise the area MP Omondi Anyanga who is reportedly not getting on well with the governor and also to make a false impression upon Raila that the governor had more following of ODM members in Migori county.

Immediately these goons arrived, they blocked the roads leading to the funeral home with rocks and huge logs at a place called Nyakwerito to prevent Raila from easily accessing the funeral home so that it could look as if the supporters of the local MP were responsible. Raila however successfully addressed huge crowds of people who had lined up the road to greet him at Sori town and at Luanda before accessing the funeral home, to the chagrin of the planners of the aborted chaos which happened to be in the village where the two rivals of the MP during the 2013 general elections hails from. Kanyuor is from the same subclan with Tom Odege, the secretary general of the Kenya Union of the Public Servants. Odege is a perennial parliamentary election loser in Nyatike. The other aspirant in the 2013 election is a Migori and Kisumu lawyer Kennedy Okong.

According to our source, the political war between governor Obado and Nyatike MP Anyanga are far from over. The governor has reportedly resorted to using new tactics and is known to be currently using two men in Nyatike. One of them is Boaz Okoth, a man with not-so-rosy record who a couple of years ago was jailed by a Kisii court for allegedly conning the Nyatike MP while he was CDF project contractor in Nyatike.

 The same ex-convict was made one of the chief spokesmen for the Migori delegation State House during the  recent visit to State House, Nairobi where 600 Migorians  went to apologise to President Uhuru Kenyatta over the heckling incident which greeted the head of state when he visited Migori.

Raila was accompanied by his wife Ida, Suba North MP John Mbadi, Suna West MP Joseph Obiero Ndiege and Homa-Bay women representative Gladys Wanga.

In his address, Obado launched the most scathing criticism of  James Orengo, the Siaya senator and Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo. He accused the two of undermining his county government and pleaded with Raila to come to his rescue by prevailing upon the two.

The Cord leader, in his address, steered clear of local political rivalries between the governor and his opponents.

Local political watchers were quick in pointing out that the attacks on Orengo and Midiwo by the governor were unwarranted and misplaced.

Raila admitted that something was amiss prior to the 2013 ODM preliminary nominations and that this time round; such nomination will be conducted one year ahead of the general elections.

Governor Obado who won his seat on the little known People’s Democratic Party of Omingo Magara after being robbed ODM ticket by his arch-rival Edward Oyugi, a close political adviser of Raila, had complained that the playing ground was not level enough to enable popular candidates win ODM nomination certificates. Obado has since spent a fortune in protracted legal battles to retain his seat. Despite his efforts to get close to Raila and ODM by using oblique techniques and at the same time endearing himself to the Jubilee coalition, this strategies have placed him in an awkward position.

Those ODM leaders from outside Migori county whom he is fond of vilifying are close advisers and associates of Raila and people are waiting to see how his tricks and tactics of bribing his way back to ODM will bear fruits.