By Anderson Ojwang

Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr Mathews Owili is emerging as the face of Kisumu and the holder of the peace legacy set by founding Governor Jack Ranguma and the incumbent Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o.

Dr Owili is currently seen as the image of a peaceful Kisumu, which is under threat from goon politics that have left the city on the brink of political violence and intolerance.

Dr Owili’s non-confrontational, peaceful mien and non-association with goons is fast endearing him to the electorate, who see him as the image of the Kisumu they want.

Three recent incidents have placed Kisumu as an emerging red violent zone in the country: the attack on Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, the failed attempts to disrupt the Linda Mwananchi rally in the city, and the violent incident at the burial of the father of Seme MP Dr James Nyikal, the late Mzee Okaka Nyikal.

Nyikal, the chairman of the Luo MP caucus popularly known as “Duol,” was not impressed at his father’s burial and called on Kisumu Senator Prof Tom Ojienda to rein in his goons.

At the burial, it was a show of goon might and a tip of the iceberg of the looming cancer in the community – the goon world and anarchy.

Siaya Governor James Orengo had to be escorted out of the funeral after youths chanting “two terms” moved closer to him, creating a security scare.

The chaos briefly disrupted the funeral programme and forced security officers to escort Orengo out of the venue to a safer exit.

Nyikal, the bereaved, lamented that the goons nearly killed his son at his father’s burial and was forced to ask Kisumu Senator Prof Tom Ojienda to go out and calm his goons.

“They nearly killed my son. I walked there to Senator Ojienda and asked him, ‘These people came with you. Can you tell them to stop?’ Senator, were you able to stop them?” he asked.

Nyikal said popularity is like love and cannot be bought with money, and wondered why fellow politicians walk to funerals in the company of goons.

“Let us be truly popular. Let us be able to walk to a funeral alone. I think popularity is like love. You cannot buy it with money. You may get it with money, but it will be lust,” he said.

Kisumu Women Representative Ruth Odinga said the intolerance – that Orengo was shouted at and had to be removed from the funeral – was unacceptable.

“What is this intolerance, that Orengo is shouted at and escorted out because he has a divergent view from those sitting there? What is the bigger picture?” she said.

Odinga wondered why the community was being divided and made to fight one another.

“As the Luo, why does it take another Luo leader to sponsor youths to remove another leader from a function?” she quipped.

Ahead of the Linda Mwananchi rally, threats of political violence were prominent, with Linda Ground lieutenants led by Alego MP Sam Atandi saying the group was not allowed in Kisumu.

Atandi wrote on his X handle: “No imposter will be allowed into Kisumu. Kisumu city must remain a peaceful city.”

He said Linda Mwananchi were not accepted in Kisumu and would not hold any rally in the lake city.

Interestingly, during the recent Linda Mwananchi rally in Kisumu, it was Dr Owili who came out to publicly state that all factions were allowed to conduct their political activities and that Kisumu was a democratic city.

In a statement, Dr Owili said: “The County Government of Kisumu takes note of recent events and public discourse and wishes to reaffirm its commitment to peace, unity, and orderly democratic engagement.”

He said political maturity was not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of dialogue, tolerance, and a shared vision for development.

“The conduct witnessed reflects a growing commitment to peaceful coexistence and constructive engagement, even in moments where opinions may differ. Kisumu County wishes to commend the people, leaders, and stakeholders who participated in yesterday’s engagements for demonstrating a high level of political maturity, restraint, and respect for one another,” he wrote.

Before the rally, Dr Owili said the County Government noted concerns raised regarding the alleged mobilization of goons and assured residents and investors that Kisumu remains firmly committed to upholding peace, law, and order.

“Any attempts to disrupt stability or incite disorder will not be tolerated, and relevant authorities will continue to remain vigilant,” he said.

Dr Owili said Kisumu continues to position itself as a key investment hub in the region, and maintaining a peaceful, stable, and predictable environment is critical to attracting investment, creating employment opportunities, and driving sustainable economic growth.

“We call upon all stakeholders to safeguard the county’s reputation and support initiatives that promote unity and development. The County Government remains dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment where dialogue prevails, institutions function effectively, and leadership is exercised with integrity and accountability. We urge all residents to continue embracing peace, unity, and mutual respect as we work together towards a prosperous future for Kisumu County,” he said.

Political analyst and resident Mr Obuya Gitembe said Dr Owili remains untainted and the perfect face of Kisumu to take over from Nyong’o.

“Kisumu cannot be left in the hands of goons to dictate terms. Some of those aspirants are hugely linked to the goons, and we cannot allow such a culture to germinate in the city. That is why Dr Owili is gaining in rating in the county,” he said.

Maseno South Bishop Rev Charles Onginjo accused politicians of encouraging the culture of handouts in the community and taking advantage of the poverty among the youths.

He said the politicians have formed a bad habit of transforming youths into political goons by exploiting their economic constraints for their own good.

“You are reducing our people to dogs and beggars. Stop cheating our people and riding on the ignorance of the people. It’s a very unfortunate culture we are developing,” he said.

Rev Onginjo challenged the politicians to develop the culture of truth and honesty to avoid sinking the community into beggary.

“If you walk around with goons, thinking you are popular, then you are cheated. That doesn’t make you popular. Empower the youths and make them economically independent,” he said.

By Anderson Ojwang

For the last 24 years, one Jared Onyango Opollo, a resident of Remba Island in Lake Victoria, has made several unsuccessful trips to the provincial administration offices in search of one vital document: the national identity card.

Onyango, a 42-year-old fisherman, has for two decades contended with harassment from Uganda police who frequently patrolled the lake and the island.

Enthralled, Onyango thanked the government of President William Ruto for the initiative and for helping rewrite his story from stateless to Kenyan.

“It has not been easy for me. When you don’t have an identification, you are stateless and you cannot transact. I had to contend with frequent harassment over lack of a national identification card. This is a dream come true,” he said.

Onyango was one of the 300 beneficiaries of the national identity card issuance initiative programme by the Ministry of Internal Security and Administration, spearheaded by Permanent Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo.

The initiative also witnessed 56 residents of Remba Island register with the ongoing mass voter registration by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

From Remba Island, the initiative will now move to Migingo and Kiwa Islands, where for decades the residents have yearned for IDs.

Dr Omollo’s ambitious idea

In a move aimed at addressing the constant lack of vital documents such as the national identity card among Kenyans, and specifically in Nyanza, the government rolled out a programme to support acquisition.

This was one of President William Ruto’s initiatives to enable every Kenyan to acquire a national identity card and to register as a voter.

In Homa Bay County, Omollo opted for the services of Lavender Ojala, who has a huge network in the region, to coordinate and spearhead the programme.

“The initiative of the ID drive in Nyanza was PS Omollo’s brainchild, and I was assigned to help in the coordination because the exercise required a lot of effort and time commitment,” she says.

Ojala says her focus was mainly in Homa Bay County because she understood the terrain and also had solid networks in all the sub-counties, which became the backbone of the coordination.

Mapping

The first step involved visiting a few national identity registration and voter registration centres for fact-finding and understanding the problems that were contributing to low uptake of ID and voter registrations.

Ojala says she was passionate about the project because it was not only serving the country but also President Ruto, and being able to explain to the residents his projects and development agenda.

“I visited most of the stations to understand the challenges to help in policy formulation. I realized we have several people at the age of 40 and above who had not acquired the ID,” she says.

One of the main challenges was the lack of birth certificates, which is a mandatory requirement in the processing of the national identity card.

Ojala says most of the old people who had not acquired a national identity card were shying away because of the embarrassment and the tiring process involved in the acquisition of the ID.

“It became incumbent upon me to sensitize the community on the importance of the document, and the response was overwhelming. The queues grew day by day, and this explains why we have high uptake of ID and are nearly meeting the target in voter registration,” she says.

Ojala says lack of ID has largely undermined land transfers in the area among the residents, and this has delayed important transactions.

Her findings revealed that most of the women who had married before getting the ID shied away from acquiring the ID because of the laborious process of having to go back to their parents’ homes to get copies of their national identity cards.

“We were able to resolve some of the thorny issues, and we have had seamless registrations in the county. The process has been a success and a milestone,” she says.

She says they have already reached 60 percent of the target of residents acquiring the national identity card.

This week alone, as of 4th May, at least 3,000 national identity cards had been processed and dispatched to various sub-counties for collection.

Empowerment programmes

Ojala has engaged in women empowerment programmes, where she has formed groups in the county training them on table banking, savings, leadership, and business enterprises.

She has developed a platform where women can have their space to interact and share with one another.

Ojala has also been supporting sporting activities in the county by donating sports gear, uniforms, and financial support.

“I am happy that I have been able to empower the people in various forms. This is the commitment that pushes me every day,” she says.

Ojala says the initiative by Omollo has been a milestone and should be a continuous one.

By Anderson Ojwang’

Kisumu Women Representative, Ms Ruth Odinga, has accused Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi of being ungrateful and disrespectful to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga family.

Ms Odinga claimed it was unfortunate for Mbadi to have made unsavory remarks about the family and that she will not allow the Cabinet Secretary to undermine the family.

“Mbadi now thinks that because my brother Raila Amolo Odinga is dead, he can now trample on our family. I am prepared and ready to face off with Mbadi,” she said in a telephone interview.

Ms Odinga did not limit the battle to only the telephone interview but went further to social media platforms and wrote: “Those who have rudishaad Raila are many. Today, I saw them in their true colors. I will respond very soon. Be sure sita nyamaza Mbadi!!! (I will not keep quiet, Mbadi!)”

Ms Odinga said there was a spat between her and Mbadi during the retreat and she even wondered about his role at the meeting by virtue that he was a public officer and should not be politically inclined.

However, attempts to get comment from Mbadi were unsuccessful after he failed to pick up our calls and respond to our text messages.

Ms Odinga said the ODM retreat in Mombasa was a venue to humiliate the Odingas and that she will not take it lying down any longer.

She said Mbadi was a beneficiary of the Odingas’ struggle and has no locus standi to disrespect and disregard the family.

“Who is Mbadi without the Odingas? We babied him, from MP to party chairman and now Cabinet Secretary. He should tread carefully. Mbadi must know and respect how he got to the top,” she said.

Ms Odinga said Mbadi has never been in the struggle and must respect the sacrifice the Odingas made for the country and the ODM party.

Ms Odinga was the only member of the family at the retreat after the party leader Dr Oburu Oginga sent his apologies due to unavoidable circumstances beyond his control.

The Kisumu legislator has been advocating for the reconciliation of the Linda Ground and Linda Mwananchi factions in the ODM party.

She has maintained it is prudent to unite the two factions of the party and voted against the sacking of Edwin Sifuna, ODM Secretary General.

But Mbadi had demanded the sacking of Sifuna, saying it was long overdue to allow the party to move into a pre-election coalition with President William Ruto’s UDA.

By Edris Omondi (Advocate)
edris@crimeprevention.net

There comes a time in every society when silence becomes complicity. That time is now.

The increasing normalization of political goonism in our governance structures is not only dangerous; it is a direct assault on democracy, dignity, and the moral fabric of our communities. We are witnessing a disturbing trend where elected leaders, instead of engaging in issue-based politics, resort to intimidation, hired chaos, and the weaponization of unemployed youth for political expediency.

This must stop.

It is in this context that I salute Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o. One may differ with him politically, but one cannot ignore his political discipline, intellectual uprightness, and refusal to submit to mediocrity disguised as populism. Leadership must not be reduced to theatre directed by goons and applause engineered by fear.

Politics must retain dignity.

Equally, Dr. James Nyikal deserves better. He is an honorable man. A legislator of substance, a village son, and a leader whose contribution to public service over the years commands and deserves respect. At a deeply personal moment, as he mourned and laid to rest his centenarian father – a man who lived to the remarkable age of 104, perhaps among the last of such centurions in our Kobita community and Seme at large, if not Kisumu County – basic decency should have prevailed.

Instead, politics intruded where humanity should have spoken.

What greater disrespect can one politician inflict upon another than to dishonor mourning? What kind of leadership celebrates humiliation over empathy? Funerals are sacred spaces in African society. They are not campaign grounds, nor should they be converted into battlegrounds for political score-settling.

This was not merely an insult to Dr. Nyikal’s family; it was an insult to the community itself.

The tragedy is larger than one funeral. Across the country, political actors increasingly believe it is fashionable to misuse young people as instruments of disruption. Idle youth are mobilized not for innovation, not for enterprise, not for civic engagement, but for heckling, violence, and intimidation. Their energy is rented cheaply for political survival.

This is not empowerment. It is exploitation.

A generation is being trained to believe that leadership is earned through noise rather than ideas, disruption rather than discipline, and violence rather than vision. Tomorrow, the same youth discarded after elections become the insecurity statistics we lament.

We cannot continue like this.

This is why voices from the Church and civil society matter now more than ever. Bishop Onginjo, in his recent sermon, courageously saw through the deception of political theatrics and reminded the congregation that truth must not bow to power. When the Church rises to speak truth to power, it becomes more than a place of worship – it becomes the conscience of society.

That prophetic role is urgently needed.

As we approach the 2027 General Election, civil society organizations, faith-based institutions, and community leadership structures must move beyond ceremonial election observation. Democracy cannot be defended only by sending observers on polling day while ignoring civic education for five years.

What exactly are we observing if we failed to prepare the people to make informed choices?

Election observation without sustained civic education is like arriving at a funeral with flowers after refusing to provide medicine. It is too little, too late.

The real work of democracy happens long before ballot papers are printed. It lies in educating citizens on constitutional values, ethical leadership, accountability, and issue-based politics. It lies in helping communities distinguish between leaders and opportunists, between service and spectacle.

We must teach people that leadership is not generosity at funerals, handouts at rallies, or sponsored chaos online.

Leadership is integrity.
Leadership is competence.
Leadership is restraint.
Leadership is character.

The 2027 elections must be a referendum on political maturity. Communities must reject leaders who thrive on division, intimidation, and manipulation. We must refuse to reward political hooliganism with public office.

Let us put our money where our minds are.

Let donors fund civic education with the same energy they fund election observation missions. Let religious institutions preach ethical citizenship with the same passion they preach prosperity. Let civil society return to the grassroots where democratic culture is built.

And let the youth be reclaimed – not as political weapons, but as architects of a better republic.

Political goonism is not strength. It is leadership failure.

Kenya deserves better.

And the time to demand better is now.

By Duncan Amon

Journalists must resist political labeling and prioritize accuracy over speed as Kenya heads toward the 2027 General Election.

Speaking during World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Kisumu, the Kisumu Journalist Network’s chairman, Rushdie Oudia, warned that media houses were already being profiled along political lines. He called the trend dangerous and asked newsrooms to examine whether they were still watchdogs or drifting into partisanship.

“The Constitution guarantees media freedom, but with that freedom comes responsibility,” Oudia said. “We must remain impartial, ethical, and grounded in truth.”

This year’s global theme is “Shaping a Future at Peace: Promoting Press Freedom for Human Rights, Development, and Security.” Oudia said the theme is a call to action, noting that ethical journalism underpins peace and democracy.

He spoke as conflicts persist in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, and as parts of Northern Kenya continue to face insecurity. In that context, he said, the media must report responsibly.

“Accuracy and sensitivity are not optional. They are our duty,” he said.

Pressure at county level

Oudia said journalism at the county level remains under pressure from poor pay, job insecurity, commercial interference, and intimidation. Limited access to information and rapid technological shifts have added to the strain.

He cautioned that the election period will flood public spaces with misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda.

“Let us resist the pressure to be first at the expense of being right,” he said. “Better late and accurate than fast and wrong. Every story we publish must inform, not inflame.”

Solution journalism and action

Oudia urged reporters to go beyond highlighting problems and embrace Solution Journalism, or SOJO, to show answers and inspire change.

To mark the day, Kisumu journalists planted trees and donated blood at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“We are often first at scenes of tragedy,” Oudia said. “Today, we choose to also be part of saving lives.”

Warning on 2027

He said early political events are already showing worrying trends, including armed youth, tension, and disorder. He called on politicians to preach peace and urged security agencies to act professionally and remain neutral.

“Journalist safety is not guaranteed,” he said. “We must stand together, look out for each other, and prioritize our welfare. Because if we don’t, no one else will.”

Oudia closed by saying the future demands journalists who are custodians of democracy.

“A free press is not a threat to peace,” he said. “It is a precondition for it.”

World Press Freedom Day is marked globally on May 3 to defend media independence and honor journalists killed in the line of duty.

By Team

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Dr Oburu Oginga’s absence from the three-day party strategic meeting raised serious concern about his whereabouts.

On Sunday, deputy party leader Simba Arati, while addressing the gathering, said Dr Oburu was expected today (Monday) to officially open the meeting.

And today, Dr Oburu was absent at Mombasa’s White Sands Hotel, and his speech was read to the members, prompting the media to ask the ODM leadership about the whereabouts of the party leader.

Arati confirmed Oburu’s absence, saying he was engaged elsewhere attending to national and party matters.

“The party leader was held up elsewhere and was unable to attend today’s meetings. But his official speech was read to you,” he said.

But sources revealed to Western Insight that Dr Oburu was last week admitted to a Nairobi hospital for a routine medical check-up.

Sources revealed that Oburu was discharged from the hospital and was asked by his doctors to take bed rest.

But Chief of Staff Mr Michael Agwanda said the party leader was fine and was in good health.

“The party leader is around attending to other duties. He is in robust health,” he said.

At the weekend, Oburu did not attend the burial of the father of Seme MP James Nyikal, Mzee Nyikal Okaka.

In his speech, Oburu apologized to members following his absence during the important function.

“First, allow me to sincerely apologize for my absence from this special occasion. I had fully planned to attend this retreat, but due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances, I have been unable to do so,” he wrote.

Oburu termed the meeting as very important to the party and asked the members to deliberate wisely.

“Though I may not be with you physically, I am with you in spirit and will closely follow the deliberations of this important meeting. It is my hope that all matters arising from this gathering will be addressed constructively and resolved amicably. I therefore encourage all distinguished members to engage freely in discussions, deliberate wisely, and strategize effectively on the way forward as we steer this great party to even greater heights,” he said.