Evans Kidero causes jitters in Homa Bay by-elections by going against ODM

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero. (Photo:File/Standard)

The temporary absence of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the new involvement of Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero in the Homa Bay succession race has thrown Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) back to the drawing board. While the ODM leader is out of the country and will remain in India for the next one week, Dr Kidero Tuesday threw his weight behind Maendeleo Party of Kenya candidate Philip Okundi.

To some observers, the battle is no longer seen as a contest between individual candidates but a supremacy war between Kidero and Raila over the control of Luo Nyanza politics.

The fact that the duo support different candidates in the February 12 senatorial by-election, sets them the stage to test their political might ahead of the 2017 General Election.

It could be a titanic battle as Raila seeks to stamp his status as the undisputed region’s political kingpin, a position Kidero is reportedly challenging. Irked by Kidero’s move to back a non-ODM candidate, especially at a time Raila was out of the country, the Orange party members loyal to the CORD leader held a secret meeting on Wednesday to lay strategies to scuttle the new wave of its rivals.

The meeting was attended by local MPs supporting the candidature of Moses Kajwang’.

The Orange party leaders from the county resolved to form five camps to spearhead separate campaigns in all the eight constituencies in the area to suppress the growing dissenting voices.

The campaign teams will be manned by the party’s national office.

ODM national chairman John Mbadi, said they came up with an elaborate process to ensure the party recaptures the seat that fell vacant following the death of Senator Otieno Kajwang’.

“We resolved to have a heavy presence of CORD members in our rallies. We plan to touch every corner of the county in our campaign tours that begin next week,” said Mbadi.

He added: “CORD principals will be joining the separate campaign teams at different dates to fire them up as we drum up support for the ODM flag bearer.”

Kasipul MP Oyugi Magwanga, who is chairing the joint ODM campaign team in Homa Bay County said they resolved to go on with the campaigns even in the absence of the party leader.

“We are seeing a lot of infiltration by our rivals who partly consist of those who had threatened to form their own political movement to compete ODM in Nyanza. Their aim is to use this by-election to prove they are powerful,” Magwanga said.

“We have slotted other MPs from counties outside Homa Bay into the campaign trail. They will join the MPs from this area who are faithful to our course to deliver a victory,” he added.

The party is said to have reached the decision to bring in legislators from other counties after majority of the ODM MPs from Homa Bay rejected the party candidate.

Of five out of eight local MPs not supporting Kajwang’, two of them, including George Oner (Rangwe) and James Rege (Karachuonyo), have openly declared their support for Okundi, while three others are also said to be secretly supporting the former Rangwe MP. On Tuesday, Kidero joined the dissenting voices, citing handpicking of Kajwang’ whom he termed unpopular among the Homa Bay residents.

“The nominations debacle has cost us numerous seats in the past and it’s high time we dealt with the issue once and for all,” Kidero said.

ODM has not taken Kidero’s involvement in the race slightly, considering that the Governor is a resident of Homa Bay County, and has been spearheading various fundraisers in the region.

Besides, the youthful MPs from the region perceived to be aligned to Dr Kidero are also not supporting the ODM candidate.