By Hope Barbra
It’s all gun blazing. With only 48 hours to the Kasipul Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nomination, all the guns are now trained on Homa Bay governor Gladys Wanga’s candidate Boyd Were.
After a hide-and-seek game, Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga has finally come out to campaign for his preferred candidate, Mr. Newton Kepha Ogada, for the ODM ticket.
Joining the fray are the Kasipul professionals led by Engineer Tom Awino Okoko and Balwin Oluoch, who in the last three days have held a series of strategic meetings and rallies across the constituency.
Magwanga, the former area MP, has come out to ask voters to reject Wanga’s candidate Boyd, the son of his bitter rival, the slain immediate former MP Charles Ongondo Were.
“When the former Kasipul MP Peter Owidi died, did the party give a direct ticket to the relatives? And what about former Ndhiwa MP Orwa Ojode, was the wife given the ticket? Even in Malava, the son of the late Moses Mululu Injende was not given a direct ticket and he lost at the nomination. We must reject the project,” he said.
Governor Wanga, when contacted for comment, wrote: “No comment.”
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 has now gone out to campaign for his preferred candidate. This could be a pointer to torrid moments ahead in Homa Bay County politics.
Cabinet Secretary for Treasury John Mbadi at the weekend announced that he will not contest the Homa Bay gubernatorial seat in the 2027 election. Now the battle line points to be between Wanga and Magwanga.
Earlier, the battle for Kasipul had been billed to be between Wanga, who is the ODM national chairman, against Siaya Senator Dr. Oburu Oginga and Dr. Wenwa Odinga, elder sibling to ODM party leader Raila Odinga.
The battle for the ODM ticket pits Boyd, Ogada, Okindo Majiwa, Dr. Adel Ottoman, and George Ajoh Mbuta.
Several aspirants who had shown interest in the party ticket opted out over what they termed manipulation of the exercise by a section of top party leadership.
Among the top candidates who opted to seek alternative vehicles are Philip Aroko and Robert Riaga, who are contesting as independent candidates, while Sam Otiende will run on a party associated with former Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i, United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Gideon Moi’s party KANU has also identified a candidate and has been joined in the race by Kalonzo Musyoka’s party, Wiper.
For the first time in history, the excitement and scramble for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket in Nyanza has thawed, with leading aspirants for the Kasipul parliamentary by-election seeking alternative vehicles.
Ogada is banking on his community support for widows, where he has constructed 6,000 houses in the county. In Kasipul, he has built 2,000 for widows and the vulnerable.
Ogada also runs a hospital which he built in 2013 and has an orphanage that supports 211 children, most of whom are schooling in his institution.
He has held several health outreaches in Kasipul and several parts of the county and country.
“I have undertaken several development projects not only in Kasipul but in Homa Bay County and the other counties. One of the beneficiaries of my education program and orphanage is currently studying medicine in the USA.
My work speaks for itself. I have a development record unmatched by any of my competitors and that is why I want to be the MP to escalate the development,” he said.
Boyd is relying on his father’s achievements and that of the county government to win the ODM ticket and eventually the election.
Boyd has been traversing the constituency campaigning and he is not a pushover. This explains why Magwanga and the professionals have come out gun blazing.
He hopes that with Wanga and other ODM MPs’ support he will win the ticket and the election to inherit his father’s seat.
He is also relying on the support of the Kachien clan—his backyard—plus his father’s and Wanga’s networks to win the nomination.
“Boyd has conducted a powerful campaign. He has presented a different image and resonates well with the youths. He is not a pushover in the contest. It is a two-horse race and can go either way,” said a section of residents interviewed.
Wanga has directed county government employees from the area to campaign for Boyd and even prevailed over her CEC Dr. Joash Aloo to forgo his ambition in favor of 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.
“We are on the ground to write history. We want to have a fresh start in Kasipul and that is why we have rolled out a serious campaign.
We are not leaving anything to chance. Kasipul people must be allowed to elect a leader of their own choice,” Oluoch said.
Oluoch said the professionals, under the leadership of Eng. Okoko, have decided to comb the ground and protect the votes from any form of rigging.
ODM is reputed for nomination anomalies, with the party leadership known to interfere with the exercise or on occasion award direct tickets to their preferred candidates.
The by-election is crucial and strategic for both Wanga and Magwanga ahead of the 2027 general elections, where they may face each other at the ballot box for the county seat.
For Wanga, Ongondo’s demise left a vacuum that she must fill with her preferred candidate to checkmate Magwanga.
Ongondo was the checkmate to Magwanga, and the two were bitter rivals who rarely shared a podium. Ongondo was used by Wanga to tame her deputy and control his political influence in the constituency.
For Magwanga, he wants to have a say in the constituency that he once represented for two terms before he decided to have a stab at the gubernatorial seat in the 2017 and 2022 elections.
Kasipul remains his fulcrum if he intends to pursue his ambition, and he wants a new MP allied to him to take over from Ongondo.
