By Reporter
Former Ugenya parliamentary candidate Stephen Okoth Mwanga has re-ignited an age-long political rivalry with Siaya Governor James Orengo over what he alleged as “his stolen victory.”
Mwanga claimed that in the 2007 elections, his victory in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) primary for Ugenya Constituency was stolen from him and handed over to Orengo.
“It is an open secret that I won the ODM nomination for Ugenya, but the party denied me victory. They preferred Orengo over me. It was the highest level of betrayal,” he said.
Mwanga said Orengo has no moral authority to speak over what he alleged as the “stolen victory” of the former Prime Minister, the late Raila Odinga, in the 2017 presidential election.
Orengo, on Sunday during the burial of Raila at his Kango ka Jaramogi home in Bondo, stunned mourners when he claimed Raila’s victory was stolen in the 2017 presidential election.
“Raila was a fighter for justice and democracy. There are those who forget the legacy of Raila Amolo Odinga. I remember after the elections in 2017, when his votes were stolen, and we must continue to say that. Raila decided with a few of us that he was going to be sworn in as a people’s president at Uhuru Park,” he remarked at the burial.
Mwanga said it was unfortunate that Orengo claimed Raila had been rigged out, yet he was a beneficiary of the same system.
“Politicians should stop playing to the public gallery. Ask yourself if you are clean before you can throw punches. It is very sad. I am a victim of the rigging system and saddened when I see beneficiaries claim sainthood,” he said.
Mwanga conducted one of the high-voltage campaigns in Ugenya then, flying to rallies in choppers and supporting orphans, widows, and the vulnerable.
He became the Ugenya MP that never was after he was rigged out and has since taken a low profile in local politics.
