By The Weekly Vision Team
ODM party leader Raila Odinga recently surprised the residents of Nyakach Constituency in Kisumu County following his direct attack against area Member of Parliament Aduma Owuor. A seemingly angry Odinga asked Mr Aduma to desist from conducting early campaigns and instead strive to deliver on the pledges he made to voters during the last elections.
Mr Odinga singled out the MP by warning him publicly that if he does not stop early campaigns and the holding of secret meetings, then the party will not support his bid for either the gubernatorial race or as a member of parliament. Mr Odinga’s speech was seen by many as a clear endorsement of the former MP Peter Odoyo’s desire to reclaim the Nyakach parliamentary seat.
In his speech, Mr Odinga heaped praise on former Nyakach MP Peter Odoyo, describing him as a close ally and a personal friend of the larger Odinga family.
The attacks directed at Mr Aduma and the praise heaped on Mr Odoyo by the ODM party leader caught many people left-footed; the perception in the area has always been that the two were close allies. Sources, however, say that Raila Odinga may have fallen out with MP Aduma over claims that he had defied his party leaders’ calls to stop the early campaigns for the Kisumu County gubernatorial seat.
There were speculations that MP Aduma enjoyed Raila Odinga’s blessings to succeed Prof. Anynag’ Nyong’o, who is serving his second and final term. Aduma has been attacking Anyang’s deputy, Mathew Owili, who has also declared interest in succeeding his boss as governor. Interestingly, both Aduma and Owili come from Nyakach.
Raila Odinga had previously indicated that Aduma was the best candidate to succeed Nyong’o, but reports on the ground indicate that the MP does not have the political and financial muscle to succeed Nyong’o. Mr Odinga is said to be comfortable with Owili, who has the political goodwill and financial muscle to wedge a serious gubernatorial campaign against his opponents.
The fear in Kisumu and ODM in particular is that Kisumu senator Prof. Tom Ojienda is also angling for the gubernatorial seat, possibly as an independent candidate or on a UDA ticket. Those who know Ojienda’s brand of politics now say that if ODM fails to conduct credible party nominations, then Ojienda is likely to carry the day. That would be a big embarrassment to Mr Odinga and ODM. Ojienda has the financial muscle and the political goodwill among the voters to outsmart ODM in Kisumu.
