By Anderson Ojwang
Kisumu responded to the spirit of the enigma, the late Raila Amolo Odinga.
Sunday was a historic and turning point in the community and country’s politics as Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and Siaya Governor mastered a bloodless coup against ODM party leader Dr Oburu Oginga and the broad-based operatives.
Darfur, Kondele as it is popularly known, rocked with a sea of humanity, who converged to welcome and witness a power transition.
They greeted Orengo as the party leader with chants of “party leader.”
Linda Mwananchi, fresh from reconnecting with the spirit of Raila at Kango Ka Jaramogi on Saturday evening, stoked and thumped authority in Kisumu.
Kisumu went back to its old form when Raila visited the lake town; it swelled and celebrated.
It was like Raila had resurrected and taken charge of the crowd. It was electric and momentous.
For a week, broad-based operatives led by Alego MP Sam Atandi had threatened that Babu and his team were not welcome in Kisumu.
“We want to tell Orengo and his team they are not allowed in Kisumu. We will not allow them to set foot in Kisumu. This is Linda Ground zone, and we cannot allow them here,” he said.
The Atandi wing deployed the bodaboda team to lead their anti-Orengo-Babu campaign, but it all backfired and failed to stop the political tsunami.
From Nyalenda to Kondele, Kisumu’s hot political thermometer, Linda Mwananchi controlled and dictated the tempo.
Babu roared: “They said we will not come here. We are here in Kisumu. We are home. We have the spirit of Raila, and we are unstoppable.”
From Nyalenda, the team traversed every corner of Kisumu, announcing the entry of a new king in town.
For President William Ruto, this was a wake-up call that his partners and operatives are political neophytes without a sound political foundation in Kisumu and Nyanza.
The reliance on the Oburu-led wing and the UDA operatives has come a cropper and does not resonate with the crowd.
And on Sunday, Linda Mwananchi neutralized Oburu and his wing over who controls Kisumu politics, and now they have to go back to the drawing board.
Babu and Orengo have finally had the last laugh over Oburu and his team.
