By Hope Barbra
Old habits die hard, so they say, and truly in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) the incompetence, manipulation, confusion, favouritism and rigging have again reared their ugly head in Ugunja and Kasipul constituencies.
The ODM nominations, that have turned out to be the graveyard of budding and senior politicians, are again waiting for the arrival of new clients to add to the ever-growing list of its victims.
The nomination fiasco that was witnessed in the 2022 elections was blamed for over 700,000 voters from Nyanza who failed to turn up to vote and handed William Ruto the presidency on a silver platter by merely over 200,000 votes.
The ODM Election Board is living up to its billing with allegations of bribery, manipulation and confusion that are likely to bungle the nomination exercise, which has been a common feature in the party for the last 20 years.
In Ugunja, the battle for the ticket has emerged as a neck-and-neck tie between Eng. Fredrick ZB Owino, Joseph Otieno Aluru and Moses Omondi, and it can go either way.
Omondi, former NG-CDF manager, enjoys the support of Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, while Governor James Orengo has a close relationship with the other aspirants.
In Kasipul, the battle is between Governor Gladys Wanga’s Boyd Were and her deputy Oyugi Magwanga’s Kepha Newton Ogada.
Ogada also enjoys the support of Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga and his sister Dr Wenwa Odinga. Other aspirants are Okindo Majiwa, Dr Adel Ottoman and George Ajoh Mbuta.
With only 12 hours to the nomination, in Kasipul aspirants and voters still do not know the identified polling centres, causing confusion and anxiety.
Last night, the board resolved the dilemma over the returning officer by appointing a new returning officer from Kisii county to preside over the Kasipul election as it grapples with the thorny issue of polling clerks.
On Tuesday, reports of the last-minute changes in the list of election officials for Kasipul caused a political storm in the party.
Sources within the ODM told Western Insight that Chairperson Emily Awita of the Election Board made changes to the list following last night’s intervention by a senior party official.
Awita and the board had two weeks ago appointed a returning officer, deputy and ICT official who were trained in Kakamega for the exercise.
Sources revealed that the appointed returning officer and ICT had in turn identified and submitted the list of polling officials to the Election Board and were expected to undergo training in Homa Bay town tomorrow ahead of Wednesday’s exercise.
Awita was asked by the top party senior official to drop the original board list of all the officials and instead use the new list presented to her.
The enraged top party official gave a dressing-down to Awita and her team for failing to liaise with him over the appointment of the officials.
“The top party official was mad that the election officials appointed by the board were not known to him and this could compromise the outcome,” our sources revealed.
Our attempts to contact Awita were unsuccessful as she did not pick our calls.
Yesterday, aspirants warned that any attempt to rig the election would be met by the full force of the people.
And it is all guns blazing, with the guns now trained on Homa Bay Governor Wanga’s candidate, Boyd Were.
The Kasipul professionals led by Engineer Tom Awino Okoko and Balwin Oluoch have camped in the constituency, holding a series of strategic meetings and rallies across the constituency in support of Ogada.
Magwanga’s decision to oppose his boss’s candidate confirms the fallout the two leaders have had in the last two years and the possibility that they will not seek re-election on a joint ticket.
Earlier, Magwanga had declined Wanga’s overtures to support her candidate, and he has now gone out to campaign for his preferred candidate. This could be a pointer to torrid moments ahead in Homa Bay County politics.
Wanga has directed county government employees from the area to campaign for Boyd and even prevailed upon her CEC Dr Joash Aloo to forgo his ambition and instead support her candidate.
The decision by Wanga to declare support for Boyd has divided the party right in the middle and forced most of the aspirants to seek alternative vehicles for the by-election.
