By Sandra Blessings
Kisumu’s first governor Jack Ranguma has rattled the political waters and thrown gubernatorial aspirants back to the drawing board.
The return of Ranguma to the race has elicited excitement in all the seven sub-counties namely Seme, Kisumu West, Kisumu East, Kisumu Central, Nyando, Nyakach, and Muhoroni.
Similarly, religious leaders and elders from the six rural sub-counties have welcomed the decision, saying Ranguma left an indelible development mark that placed Kisumu on the right footing.
Importantly, a move to install one of the aspirants from the Kano clan as their candidate has now stalled with the return of Ranguma.
Residents and elders from Kano are of the opinion that Ranguma should be allowed to complete his term.
Similarly, Kisumu County Government staff have welcomed Ranguma’s candidature, saying that during his term, the welfare of staff was put first into consideration and the working environment was conducive. A number of workers interviewed said there was no nepotism and clannism as is being witnessed in the current regime.
Before his declaration, the playing ground was crowded by new entrants, among them first-term elected MPs and the senator. In contention are Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron, Kisumu West MP Rosa Buyu, Nyakach MP Aduma Owuor, Deputy Governor Dr. Mathews Owili, Senator Tom Ojienda, and former MP Ken Obura.
In the last general election, Ranguma braved the hostile political and ODM climate to secure 100,600 votes against Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o’s 319,357 votes.
In the 2017 ODM nominations, Ranguma was winning the ODM primaries when the party leadership directed that Nyong’o be declared the winner at Thurdibuoro Secondary School, some 60 kilometers away from the gazetted party tallying centre at Aga Khan Hall.
At the Aga Khan Hall in Kisumu town, Ranguma was declared the winner by Deputy Returning Officer Richard Kiyondi with 118,934 votes against Nyong’o’s 32,028.
But in Thurdibuoro, Nyong’o was declared winner by County Returning Officer Tom Okong’o after he allegedly secured 164,110 votes against Ranguma’s 91,480.
The party gave the ticket to Nyong’o, who eventually won the election by commanding a decisive lead with 259,493 votes, translating to 63.38 percent of the votes cast, trailed by Ranguma with 145,790 votes, translating to 35.61 percent.
Ranguma comes from the larger Kano clan, where Oron and Obura also hail from, but he enjoys more support than the rest.
Aduma, Owili, and Ojienda come from the minority Nyakach clan, which has 77,934 voters, while Nyando boasts 80,757 voters and Muhoroni has 79,859. Both Muhoroni and Nyando are dominated by the Kano clan.
Analysts contend that Ranguma comes with over 100,000 voters as a starting bloc and all he needs is to pick a candidate from the diaspora who commands the Kisumu Central vote.
The close working relationship between President William Ruto and Ranguma is likely to translate into massive development projects in the lake city, with Ruto as the president.
Ranguma enjoys massive support in the rural sub-counties where he undertook various development projects, and he only needs to rope in the diaspora votes to be ahead of his competitors.
For the flood-prone people of Kano, during the five years Ranguma was in office, flooding and annual displacement of families and households were tackled and they never suffered from the menace.
“For the five years I was the governor, the people of Kano never suffered from floods. We ensured that we cleared and cleaned the River Nyando basin and dredged it to ensure there was no flooding,” he said.
After his ouster, floods returned to Nyando and last year November, several families were displaced and the common cry Sirkal saidia sisi (government help us) returned to haunt the community.
Ranguma is credited with creating Kisumu millionaires and inspiring the local community to engage in business both small and large scale.
Ranguma’s election marked a new dawn for Kisumu County, which once a sleepy region, woke up to a vibrant economy.
He created youths, women, and adults millionaires who within a short time revolutionized the city economy from the Asian community–driven to the native centered.
But after the 2017 elections, when he lost, Kisumu has witnessed a dwindling number of Ranguma millionaires, while several business persons have been auctioned over failure to repay loans.
Ranguma presided over the rollout of devolution to the ward level and initiated the Ward Development Fund by giving each ward Sh10 million.
“I was concerned by the state of our roads in Kisumu County. My priority was to open and murram new roads. During my time, we opened and murramed 1,197 kilometers of road in the county. Most of these roads have today collapsed due to non-maintenance,” he said.
Similarly, Ranguma constructed 74 Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres and gave scholarships to 640 students, while 2,800 others benefited from bursaries.
“I was so passionate about the health of our people. We employed 249 village health workers, and we constructed 172 dispensaries. Some we left to be completed by the new regime. This was a milestone in realizing improved health service delivery to our people,” he said.
Ranguma purchased eight ambulances, which were distributed to all the eight sub-counties for medical emergency response.
To ensure Kisumu was a 24-hour economy, Ranguma constructed floodlights in all the 72 large markets in Kisumu County which he built.
Similarly, he constructed floodlights from Kisumu Boys roundabout to Nyamasaria and another one from the same point to Kondele.
“I was able to sign a memorandum with a private investor that witnessed construction of floodlights from Obote Road to Kisumu International Airport,” he said.
Ranguma also presided over the construction of 82 social centres, built 72 large markets and 140 small ones.
“I was able to supply 72 teams with sports uniforms and kits. I am passionate about talent development and that is why we had massive investment in sports,” he said.
During his term, the French government constructed four ultra-modern schools in Kisumu County and also signed the Kenya Urban Project (KUP) contracts that witnessed the modernization of Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground, construction of the modern Kisumu Fire Station, rehabilitation of Oile Park, and the laying of cabros in Kisumu Central Business District (CBD).
“I was able to donate dairy cows to 32 groups in a bid to spur agriculture and food security in the region,” he said.
Former Chief Officer for Economic Planning Mr. George Akongo said the administration ensured prompt payment of suppliers and contractors, and this made the economy stable and brisk.
“Ranguma allowed tenders to be given out to all suppliers and through this, new millionaires emerged. Kisumu’s economy was on an upward trend but currently it is fading out,” he said.
