By Anderson Ojwang’
Crowd trouble forced the Homa Bay KUPPET branch elections to abort after a rowdy crowd gained entry into the hall, subsequently compromising the exercise.
Earlier, some agents and candidates blocked the Secretary General, Akelo Misori, from accessing the venue to oversee the elections.
Similarly, sibling rivalry between the incumbent secretary, Stephen Odhiambo Yogo, and his maternal nephew, Thomas Odhiambo Okoth, who is also the Nyanza Sports Secretary, was to blame for the chaos witnessed during the elections.
County Labour Officer David Kirui said the voting exercise was peaceful but was compromised at the tail end when a surging crowd of over 1,000 gained entry into the hall, making the exercise untenable.
“The turnout was huge and crowd management was poor as teachers struggled to vote. So when a huge crowd gained entrance to the hall, we could not continue with the exercise because it became compromised,” he said.
Kirui said the agents were able to secure the ballots and voting materials, but they were later destroyed when his team left the venue after the exercise was aborted.
Kirui denied any presence of goons at the elections and blamed the aborted exercise on crowd trouble, which they failed to manage to ensure a smooth election.
“The exercise was so peaceful, but we had not anticipated the huge turnout. We cannot blame any of the candidates for the trouble. I will give my report,” he said.
After the returning officer left the venue, enraged voters burnt the ballot papers and voting materials.
Thomas, who was leading Team Change against Yogo’s team, has been engaged in bitter competition for the various branch seats, and the rivalry could have led to the Sunday crowd trouble at the hall.
Misori condemned the violence that was witnessed at the election, terming it retrogressive and archaic.
“It is unfortunate that goons stopped me from accessing the venue and even threatened to torch my vehicle. On Saturday, I was in Migori and the elections were peaceful. The national office is mandated to oversee the elections,” he said.
Akelo said the elections have been peaceful countrywide and wondered why Homa Bay resorted to violence and hiring goons instead of allowing the democratic process to take its course.
He said the union was waiting for the report from the labour office, which was the returning officer and the regulator, to advise them on the next course of action.
“It is upon Homa Bay to determine whether they want to attend the National Delegates Conference or not. We will have the quorum, and it is up to them to make the choice,” he said.
Misori criticised those who hired goons to disrupt the elections, saying it demeans the image of teachers and the union and must be condemned at all costs.
On Sunday, goons denied voters and officials access to the voting hall and took over the management of voter records and materials.
Yogo said there were incidences of double voting and blamed his opponents for allegedly trying to manipulate the elections in their favour.
“Thomas, who was leading Team Change, is my maternal nephew. The campaigns have been peaceful, and we wondered why my opponents resorted to using goons,” he said.
Yogo absolved Team Sanity, led by Bernard Obop, who was vying for the chairman seat, from the violence, saying they watched helplessly as goons burnt the voting materials.
“Team Sanity of Obop behaved themselves. We sat together and watched as goons destroyed voting materials and disrupted the elections. This was unfortunate,” he said.
Obop wrote, “Too unfortunate. Thanks, colleagues, for heeding the call. Aluta continua.”
Attempts to contact Thomas were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.
