Raila falls out with Nyong’o ahead of polls – Weekly Citizen

Kisumu county politics is expected to drift to the centre after ODM leader Raila Odinga fell out with Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o.
Impeccable sources from party ranks and file have confided in Weekly Citizen that Raila is at the moment shopping for a replacement for Nyong’o ahead of 2022.

Anyang Nyong’o

Among those being fronted include former Nyakach MP Peter Odoyo and Nyongo’s predecessor Jack Ranguma, and a former chief finance officer during Ranguma’s tenure Kephas Kacera. The sources have further revealed that Raila is at the moment still clinging on Nyong’o because he is taking care of the interests of the former prime minister. It has since been established that Nyong’o started falling out of favour with Raila after he declined to appoint Odoyo as the county public service chairman. Their relationship had earlier become frosty after Nyong’o failed to install Odoyo as the city board head in favour of Elijah Adul, who hails from Seme constituency, where the governor comes from. A former aide in Nyongo’s office when he was the senator Babu Karan eventually became the county board chairman. Party diehards, it is said, feel that Nyong’o has never been an ardent supporter of Raila from the days he ditched Ford-K for the Social Democratic Party.

Jack Ranguma

Nyong’o vied for the Kisumu Rural constituency during the 1997 general election and lost to NDP’s Winston Ochoro. Nyong’o came a distant third after Ochoro and Kanu’s late Ndolo Ayah. He eventually secured an SDP nomination to parliament courtesy of his support for the party presidential flagbearer Charity Ngilu. Nyong’o made a comeback during the 2002 polls and won the seat after decamping from SDP. Odoyo won the 1997 polls when he vied for the Nyakach seat until 2007 when he lost to Polyns Ochieng. He was previously an assistant minister and is a son to former Nyakach MP the late Samson Odoyo who was also at one time the Kisumu Mayor. Odoyo is currently the chief administrative secretary, a beneficiary of the handshake between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila. So far, he is the only candidate from the Nyakach clan for the seat. Since Nyakach is known for supporting their own, he can bank on this and with Raila’s support, he can mount a serious bid. His chances of winning are minimal.

Peter Odoyo

It will be interesting to see how Raila’s matrix works out during the 2022 polls if he settles on Odoyo. Nyong’o deputy Mathew Owili also hails from Nyakach while Kacera hails from Kano. Interestingly, people from Kano led by Senator Fred Outa and an activist Patrick Ouya led Nyong’o’s campaigns at the last elections in the area. Ranguma had fallen out with Raila as Kenyans went to the last elections even though he is now being seen as a better devil than the angle you know by ODM big wigs compared to Nyong’o. Nyong’o’s critics believe he is yet to make an impact, save for the much-touted multimillion shilling Kisumu urban projects which after all are not his. At the same time, various combatants are now positioning themselves ahead of the Kisumu county 2022 gubernatorial contest as both antagonists and protagonists dig in. In fact, early campaigns have gripped the expansive county with aspirants already throwing caution to the winds. Conversations with a number of Kisumu leading political keen observers and our independent investigations reveal that seven people are already marshaling logistics towards the contest.

Fred Outa

So far, the seven known aspirants are Ranguma, who will be making a comeback, former Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura, Outa, Ojwang Lusi, Odoyo himself and Israel Kodiaga amongst others. With the current restructuring of the national political scenario, it would be interesting to see how the Kisumu gubernatorial contest would fair being that Kisumu is Raila’s political power bastion; hence his presidential candidacy will play a major factor. Come 2022, Kisumu county will register slightly over 300,000 votes and various key factors will come into play, key amongst them being that Raila’s 2022 presidential bid, clannism, and generation change, individual past roles in public life candidate’s professional achievements and ODM party primary’s management and outcome. Nyong’o was at once a key ally of Raila and a seasoned politician who is credited for being instrumental in the formation of the ODM party and unto now, the assumed party secretary-general.

Israel Kodiaga

He became the Kisumu county governor in an acrimonious way courtesy of bungled party primaries where he was declared the winner. He survived the subsequent election petition that was filed by Ranguma. His critics claim he is an untrustworthy fellow, arrogant, self-centered, and highly opinionated and does not respect people without university degrees, a fact that can be seen in his cabinet appointees where all non-graduates have been sacked and replaced by Ph.D. and Masters degree holders. His wife Dorothy is also a pain in the neck. Nyong’o crafted a powerful campaign manifesto at the 2017 elections but the implementation is poor, a factor which has made his critics claim he is a theorist. The popular ODM support that he used to ride on to power has waned drastically, leading to Nyong’o becoming unpopular with both the public and elected leaders within the county. Amidst allegations of corruption and disregarding Nema’s advice, his administration has managed to relocate the Kachok dumpsite.

Mathew Owili

His administration has been dogged with claims of serious cronyism, nepotism, incompetence, corruption, lack of respect for the law especially court rulings, an issue that saw his administration lose so many cases in court leading to the sacking of his county attorney.
He has fallen out with all the leading lights at his 2017 bid, a factor which has made Outa become his ardent critic and will take any available opportunity to spew venom at his administration. His handling of the health sector, hawkers’ relocation from the CBD and demolition of eateries from the Kenya Railways land are key issues he has to deal with. Claims bound that he only concentrates development within Kisumu CBD and rides on donor and national government-funded projects and has totally neglected the six rural sub-counties. Under his administration, delays in payment of salaries are common and it is not strange to walk into county offices and find empty desks. He is accused of having refused to pay personal benefits to senior staff members who served under Ranguma. Nyong’o is accused of allowing tenderprenuership amongst the MCAs where nearly all MCAs are the ones claimed to be undertaking contracts within their respective wards.

Ojwang Lusi

With clan being a key factor in Kisumu politics and Nyong’o’s falling out with all the leading Kisumu political lights, this might lower his chances for he hails from the smallest Seme clan, and with nepotism accusations, it is difficult to project how the other clans will perceive his 2022 bid. On the other hand, Kodiaga is a Ph.D. holder in business development studies. In the last elections, Kodiaga contested the Kisumu senatorial seat and came fourth. Kodiaga used to be a close associate of Nyong’o and was instrumental in the founding of SDP as a political party. SDP was a political outfit that crumbled under Nyong’o’s tutelage after squabbles over the unaccounted millions of donor funds meant for the 1997 general election. Obura is currently serving as a Chief Administrative Secretary in the current Jubilee government after ditching ODM.
He is a well-endowed man with various economic interests. Obura is credited with the initiation of the Ken Obura High School and a foundation that he runs as a charity.