Sam Ongeri leads Jubilee exodus as Gusii pointmen dump Uhuru Kenyatta

 

Jubilee Party has suffered a set back in the vote rich Gusii region after one of its senior members announced he was quitting.

Former Cabinet Minister Sam Ongeri’s decision to ditch the party has thrown the Jubilee brigade in the region into a spin as they were relying on his political experience and good standing to tame CORD’s stranglehold in Kisii and Nyamira counties.

Although he is yet to name his new party, Prof Ongeri, currently Kenya’s envoy to the UN-Habitat, fell short of saying he was joining the opposition CORD.

“Let it be known that from today, I have officially quit the Jubilee Party. I am heading to the party which the Gusii people want to support in the coming elections,” he said.

Telltale signs that Ongeri was on his way out of the ruling coalition emerged last month after he declared his support for Kisii Governor James Ongwae, who is an ODM stalwart. Asked whether he was decamping to ODM, the envoy said he was merely supporting Ongwae’s re-election bid because of his good work.

Loyal lieutenant

Ongeri told The Standard on Sunday that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto had openly shown disregard for senior politicians from the region.

He questioned why the President could not trust him to lead campaigns for his re-election in the region, yet he had served with him in government and had stuck loyally to his side when the region supported CORD in the 2013 elections.

“It is a big joke that a politician of my caliber can be underrated this much. My view is that the President and his deputy have their preferred candidates whom they have openly supported and will continue supporting as we head towards the General Election and I will not have any business in the party,” he said on phone.

The former minister has expressed interest in the Kisii Senate seat, pitting himself against former Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) chair Charles Nyachae, who was appointed to lead JP’s campaigns in Gusii and Nyanza.

Jubilee’s Kisii campaign team comprises of Nyachae, Deputy Governor Joash Maangi and Albert Nyaundi.

Yet Ongeri’s decision is just one of many defections that has hit the ruling coalition in the region over the past few weeks.

Last week, two of its key supporters announced their decamping. Former MPs Wilfred Ombui (North Mugirango) and Mwancha Okioma (Kitutu Masaba) said they left Jubilee because they felt shortchanged in the re-organisation of its regional campaign teams.

Mr Ombui, who is eyeing the North Mugirango seat in Nyamira County, said he decided to quit Jubilee after he was overlooked in the presidential re-election campaign team. He accused the President and his deputy of favouring his rival Joash Nyamoko, the speaker of the Nyamira County Assembly, for the seat.

“How sure are we that the nominations will be free and fair when our opponents are in control?” he said.

Ombui has since joined Kanu, the party with which he was elected to Parliament in 2007. Okioma will seek the Nyamira governor seat on a Ford-Kenya ticket. Others who have announced their defection are Meshack Mochoge, who is eyeing the West Mugirango parliamentary seat and Kisii governor hopeful Lumumba Nyaberi.