The MP seems to have a soft spot for Luhyas as compared to their Luo counterparts. Most of the projects he has initiated are based in areas mostly inhabited by the Luhya community. And even when job vacancies arise, those positions are only distributed among the Luhya community
Butula MP Hon. Joseph Oyula is a man under siege barely five months in office for his second term. He is already facing a serious rebellion from a section of his constituents who are complaining of being discriminated against. The residents are demanding that the MP should not discriminate against them of areas he perceives did not voted for him in the last election, they claim they are being profiled against because of the ethnicity.
An online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, describes ethnic profiling as the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person/s on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involves discrimination against minority populations and often builds on negative stereotypes of the targeted demographic.
Those who have keenly followed political events in the constituency, claim that the MP has been discriminating against people in Wards where his opponents had an upper hand. Statistically, Butula constituency is home to both Luhyas and Luo communities in almost equal ratio and Mr Oyula being in ODM has always bagged 100 per cent of the Luo vote, especially in Marachi West Ward in the villages of Bujumba, Burinda, Masebula, Busire and Busebula where a very good number of residents are Luos.
The MP seems to have a soft spot for Luhyas as compared to their Luo counterparts. Most of the projects he has initiated are based in areas mostly inhabited by the Luhya community. And even when job vacancies arise, those positions are only distributed among the Luhya community, they claim.
Sources say, last year there was a vacancy for Principal at Burinda Technical Training Institute; the MP is said to have approached a serving principal from Butula, who happens to be Luo , then serving in Webuye to come back home as the head of Burinda Technical Training Institute. Strangely, the principal’s name was never forwarded to the relevant authorities for a formal appointment, this is after he had relinquished his previous post in Webuye.
It came as a surprise when the principal’s name went missing when the ministry posted a very close buddy to Mr Oyula to head the institution. The locals, especially the Luo, are not happy with the new development. It has also been discovered that the land on which the institution stands was sold to the government by the MP himself, hereby raising questions of conflict of interest. Residents are now promising sweet revenge against the MP in the next general elections unless he stops favoring the Luhya community only at the expense of Luos.
Analysts say Oyula believes that it was the Luhya vote that handed him victory considering that out of the 12 villages in his Ward, 8 are Luhya dominated and only four are inhabited by Luos. But even as the MP faces political rebellion at home, a report by the Auditor General has also exposed malpractices in the Butula CDF. According to the report, CDF spent Sh10m towards the construction of Burinda Chief’s camp. However, it is being said that the taxpayers did not get value for their money and more so the ownership of the land on which the camp was built has not been authenticated.
The report also reveals that the Butula CDF is ineffective as most of the projects have not been implemented despite records showing that funds had been allocated and released. Project Implementation Review of records for the forty-seven (47) projects budgeted at a total cost of Ksh. 137,367,724 revealed that twelve (12) projects with a total cost of Ksh. 37,647,300 had not started and thirty-one (31) of the projects at Ksh. 88,073,124 were still ongoing and only four (4) of the projects at Ksh. 8,500,000 had been completed.
