By Anderson Ojwang
The Noo clan in Kisumu County is the second largest Luo clan after Rachuonyo, and they occupy Nyando, Muhoroni and Kisumu East sub counties and part of Kisumu Central. They account for over 50 percent of Kisumu County population.
The clan draws respect for being the home of the legends such as Lwanda Magere, who won several battles between the Luo and the Nandi. He possessed unearthly powers, and his flesh was made of stone. He deflected arrows, spears and clubs, making him invincible during war. He was famously known for his capability to tear an entire army apart on his own.
A site in Sidho, near Awasi in Nyando, has a stone revered as the spot where Luanda Magere died. Legend has it that Luo warriors sharpened their blades on the shrine before battles. People come from far and wide to conduct rituals and prayers at the site
Equally, Kano is the birthplace of the Legio Maria sect leader and messiah, Baba Melkio Ondetto. Legio Mariah sect has a big following in the region and some senior politicians from the region ascribe to its doctrines. He was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in the 1960s and became a prominent figure in his own movement, with followers viewing him as a messiah and prophet.
At independence, Kano dominated the politics of Kisumu county council and held the seat for the chairman for the longest time ever.
For Kano, the leadership of Kisumu was in their hands and they safeguarded it against the outsiders whom they called Oluwo Reru ( came by the train).
That is why when the first governor for Kisumu, Jack Nyanungo Ranguma, was elected with overwhelming votes.
A joke is told of how two sons of Kano then area MP Fred Outa and Patrick Ouya, conspired to disinherit the Kano of their grade cow and instead brought home a donkey.
Ouya and Outa were the brains behind the infamous non-existent Thurdibuoro tallying centre that declared then senator Prof Anyang Nyong’o the winner of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nomination and subsequently became the second governor.
As fate would have it, Ouya and Outa soon fell out after what they had perceived to hold a nusu mkate (half loaf) stake in Nyongo’s government was a mirage and they returned home empty-handed.
They in 2017, they supported Ranguma against Nyong’o but lost in the election. Outa joined President William Ruto after the loss and was subsequently appointed Kenya’s ambassador to Egypt while Ouya remained aloof.
Now the Noo clan have a date with destiny with Nyong’o’s term coming to an end in 2027. Will Noo undo the curse that removed leadership from his hands to regain control of Kisumu County?
Kano is the home of powerful and respected leaders such as former Minister Onyango Midika, Peter Anyumba, who served as the country’s longest director of surveys, J B Nyamwaya, who was Kisumu county council chairman, Boaz Magero Lusi, Johana Nyasuna, Okal Ogawa Festus Nyando and Alfred Aguko, all of who were became council chairman.
Others are former Nyando MP Eng Erick Nyamunga, Eng Otiende Odongo, former provincial commissioner Peter Raburu, among others.
In a bid to maintain their political supremacy, the Noo coiled a political alliance with Kisumo and Kajulu and invented a Triple K alliance, which ensured they dominated the politics of Kisumu until ODM leader Raila Odinga dismantled it.
Raila was able to dismantle the hold in Triple K power matrix after he forced then little-known Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir to become the mayor of Kisumu and subsequently scattered the union to the periphery of Kisumu politics.
Two years ago, after various aspirants began early campaigns for the gubernatorial seat, an infuriated Raila read the riot act to the aspirants who included Kisumu central MP Dr Joshua Oron, from Kano, Aduma Owuor, Senator Tom Ojienda and Deputy Governor Mathews Owili, all from Nyakach.
Kisumu County has a registered voters as per the 2022 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that 606,754, which is distributed among the constituencies as Nyakach 68,884, Muhoroni 69091, Nyando 71680, Seme 58555, Kisumu Central 120,023, Kisumu West 74,439, and Kisumu East 81,558
“I do not want to see people campaigning now. Let people deliver on their mandate to the people. It is not time for politics. The party will give direction at the opportune time,’ he said at a funeral in Nyakach.
But the campaigns did not stop as the aspirants have continued to spread their tentacles across the county with various projects and campaign programs.
Sources revealed to The Western Insight that a team of Kano professionals, business persons, headed by Eng Nyamunga, are working around the clock to restore the lost dignity and glory of the land of legends.
“Currently, the Kano people only have one candidate, and they have resolved that they will not be divided and have learnt the harsh lesson from betraying the clan by passing over the leadership to Seme,” said our sources.
Ouya said they have since repented to the people for betraying their cause and that is why they supported Ranguma in the last general election.
“It is painful that we took away the leadership from our people but we indeed repented. Now I want to take a low profile and allow the clan to make the best political decision for the people,” he said.
The unity among Kano people is causing discomfort in the ODM party leadership, who feel that with the changing political dynamics, it could easily enable them to regain the seat.
Aduma, Ojienda and Owili will first have to square it for Nyakach votes before seeking from other regions, which could make them start from a disadvantaged point.
Oron could start from a vantage point should no other candidate emerge from the clan and may give him the leverage he needs in the 2027 campaigns and elections.
