ODM
national treasurer designate Timothy Bosire has quickly found himself a lone
ranger in Gusii politics after all his allies and ODM politicians abandoned him
in turns and twists resembling the Simeon Nyachae fallout of 2007 that ended
the old man’s political career.
Many
ODM insiders in Gusiiland accused the first time Kitutu-Masaba MP of
monopolising access to ODM leader Raila Odinga and turning sycophantic ever
since he became the former prime minister’s close ally in the region in 2006
after the Orange-Banana referendum.
Already,
Nyamira and Kisii county ODM leaders starting with the two governors; John
Nyagarama and James Ongwae and key legislators, Richard Onyonka, Peter
Ogari (Bomachoge) , Patrick Geni (Borabu) James Gesami (W Mugirango) all of
ODM, have kept a distance from him as they blame him of sidelining and
disrespecting them. Though some have drifted to the government side, others
have stuck with ODM but have been lobbying close Raila handlers to allow them
to operate separately from Bosire.
The
angry MPs said that Bosire is the main cause of ODM losing all by-elections in
the two counties since last year, both which have been won by a resurgent
Ford People.
But
it is the painful consequences of ODM losing popularity in the region that is
worrying many as it is increasingly clear that Ford People which is rebranding
and rapidly regaining its former popularity is annoying many ODM diehards and
making many reconsider their political alignments ahead of 2017.
Already,
talk is rife that Kisii senator Chris Obure could be considering quitting ODM
to work with Charles Nyachae who is poised to retire as chairman of the
Constitution Implementation Commission and vie for the position of Kisii
governor to replace James Ongwae.
Though
Obure is not known to be close to the Nyachae family due to decades-old
political rivalry, he is known not to mind Charles who is said to be less
confrontational as compared to his father Simeon Nyachae. Obure also fears that
if he does not work with the Nyachaes for 2017, the void may be filled readily
by Omingo Magara whom he beat narrowly last year.
Although
it appears that the quiet move by Obure to join hands with the emerging Ford
People leaders is to survive in 2017, it is also said that he wants to hide
under the close relations between the Nyachae family to avoid any hard actions
by the government over the perennial Anglo-Leasing scandal linkage. Recently
he, together with Chris Okemo and Musalia Mudavadi were adversely named by AG
Githu Muigai as among key players in the Anglo-Leasing scandal, especially the
one that saw the government forced to pay billions after a court ruling in
Europe.
Though
Obure was mentioned, he has not been prosecuted or found guilty by any court of
law over the scandal that almost brought down the Mwai Kibaki regime in 2006.
However, he fears that it has serious political repercussions and in delicate
times opponents can unleash it on him with devastating effect to finish him
politically.
Close
associates said that Obure initially thought of joining Uhuru Kenyatta straight
as have done Coast ODM leaders led by Gideon Mung’aro but was advised to look
for a Kisii friendly route to working with the president for political safety.
In 2002, Obure supported Uhuru’s first stab at the presidency under Kanu but
both failed miserably. He only recovered after crossing to ODM reluctantly in
2007.
The
irony of the twists in Kisii and Nyamira is that a worried Bosire has sent
emissaries to former Sam Ongeri to abandon Jubilee and be ODM’s senator
candidate in Kisii in 2017. Ongeri is a Jubilee hardliner who was recently
rewarded with an appointment as Kenya’s envoy to the United Nations Habitat.
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