A
former aide of Raila Odinga and his campaign manager in Cord Eliud Owalo is
sending ripples in the sprawling Kibra constituency where he has declared his
interest to lock horns with MP Kenneth Okoth.
Fidel
Castro, the son of party leader Raila Odinga is also said to be going for the
seat. However, others say Fidel may relocate to either a seat within Kisumu
most likely that of Olago Oluoch to avoid confrontation with Owalo who is close
to his father. Others say Fidel is also thinking of Langata or even Kasarani. To
avoid a bitter fight, he thinks of the Bondo parliamentary seat at times. Okoth
is in trouble after he accompanied Uhuru to America tour which was interpreted
by his detractors as betrayal to Raila.
Owalo
has appealed to Kenyans to embrace sports as a means of enhancing unity in
diversity in the country and at the same time asked the youth to maintain peace
and avoid engaging in acts of violence and thuggery.
Addressing
thousands of football fans who had thronged Kibra’s Woodley grounds during the
finals of the Idd-adha Cup football
tournament recently, Owalo stated that
sports is a unifying factor that transcends tribal, political and religious
boundaries and should therefore be embraced by all Kenyans to promote national
cohesion.
He
urged Kenyans of youthful age who are talented in sports to take the initiative
seriously as it has now become a major source of livelihood all over the
world but not merely a compliment to education as was the case before.
He
urged the Nairobi county government to rehabilitate Kibra’s Woodley grounds,
stating that the facility has been a breeding ground for many footballers of
national repute.
Owalo,
who had sponsored the tournament in partnership with the Muslim community in
Kibra to mark the end of the recent celebrations, donated trophies and cash
awards totaling over Sh200,000 to the participating teams.
At
another function recently, he donated over 200 iron sheets, poles, blankets and
building materials to residents of Gwatwekera in the constituency after their
houses were gutted down and made a day long tour of the area to identify
challenges facing the people.
Accompanied
by all the constituency ODM party leaders led by chairman Ochieng Jera,
the Kibra 2017 parliamentary aspirant last made yet another extensive tour
of all the five wards of Makina, Lindi, Laini Saba, Woodley and
Sarangombe with a view to determining the strategic issues that need to
be addressed arising from the challenges facing the people of Kibra.
In
the course of the tour, Owalo received distraught calls from bereaved
families in Kibra requesting for financial assistance in organising funerals
for their departed next of kin and decided to respond instantly.
Being
a stakeholder in the constituency and a philanthropist who has extended
numerous humanitarian assistance to area residents in the past,
Owalo made impromptu visits to the bereaved families.
He
was escorted on foot by residents, party ward chairmen including Catherine
Okoth, Mohammed Gore, Jeconiah Milla, Kopiyo Nyamweya, Rose Masita, Malla
Shikokoti, John Paul and Janet Wekesa, youth and women representatives among
others. Owalo was mobbed by
the crowd as he waded on foot through the dingy Kibra
alleys to the homes of the late Grace Achieng, Mama Okinda and Yvonne Achieng,
wife of Jamwaka, a youth leader in the constituency. He consoled each
family with Sh20,000.
He
made several brief stop-overs along the way to buy merchandise and food from
local vendors who were surprised by the humility of the man.
Residents
were heard exclaiming that they had never hosted anyone of Owalo’s calibre in
their homes in the past, and were therefore encouraged by his determination to assist them in difficult
circumstances willing to walk through the sprawling slum at night despite
obvious security risks.
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