16th January 2007

NYANZA LUO MPs FACING A TOTAL REJECTION BY THE EECTORATE FOR POOR LEADERSHIP

By a Special Correspondent
LUOCOME, MUHORONI

The Luo political kingpin Raila Amolo Odinga recently made an intensive all round tour of Nyanza Province during Christmas and New Year festivities to reassess the loyalty of his unswerving support by the community.

The all round trip took Raila to Awendo in Rongo constituency where he had a very successful meeting with the ODM-K loyalists and leaders from the Abagusii and Kuria communities. The face-to-face encounter meeting between "Agwambo" and delegates from Kuria and Kisii regions took places at the Sugarview Hotel in Awendo town. The MP for the area George Ochillo Ayacko wholly owns the Hotel.

The two delegations from Abagusii and Kuria communities assured "Agwambo" that they would vote for him in the forthcoming presidential election. But in some places, the written messages about the hostility against the sitting Luo MPs were clearly written on the wall wherever "Agwambo" went.

In Awendo Town where Raila and his entourage addressed a mammoth crowd of ODM-K supporters in the shopping center, he was met with hand signs of total rejection of the MP for the area Ochilo Ayacko. The ageing Uriri MP Herman Odhiambo Omamba who had stuck to Raila's side all the times like a tick, suffered the same fate.

Raila, however particularly came face-to-face with the wrath of the electorate during his tour of Muhoroni constituency in Nyando District.

The electorate of Muhoroni declared total war against their MP Prof. Ayiecho Olweny, the man who was rigged into parliament in the year 2002. This comes in the light of gross mismanagement and alleged corruption in the disbursement of funds for CDF, School Bursary Funds and CACC where the MP has shown no accountability and transparency.

The Muhoroni legislator was accused of allegedly giving funds to relatives, his political sycophants and loyal friends, most of them being illiterate or semi-illiterate.

One serious mistake the MP had committed is that he cannot easily deal or interact with the educated elite, but instead, he prefers to surround himself with people who have no opinion, education or vision. As a matter of fact, Muhoroni constituency under Prof. Ayiecho Olweny remains one of the most underdeveloped constituencies in the country despite funding from the government.

In addition to the mentioned funds, the Muhoroni legislator is also being accused of having colluded with the corrupted Chief Officers and Councilors of the County Council of Nyando where funds for LASDAP, LATF, CESS and Road maintenance Funds to name only a few, were squandered with the alleged full knowledge of the MP.

Sometime late last year, during a Provincial meeting with top Council officials in Nyanza .the Local Government Minister, Hon. Musikari Kombo had declared Nyando County Council as the worst civic body in the whole Province. The Minister even suggested that the Council should be dissolved and closed down. The residents however are still waiting for action from the Minister so that delivery of the services by the Council can be improved under a new management.

Under the leadership of Prof. Ayiecho Olweny, the three sugar processing industries, Miwani and Muhoroni Sugar Companies (under receivership) and Chemelil Sugar Company (being in the state of semi-insolvent) remain more run down than ever.

With the alleged close ties to the management of Chemelil and Muhoroni, the legislator has been allegedly involved in the looting spree of these companies while farmers and employees are suffering with poverty level ranging between 60 per cent and 70 per cent. The state of affairs is even shameful, for Muhoroni, with all the resources and its agricultural potential, could be one of the richest constituencies in the country.

The people of Muhoroni now insist in getting free and democratic elections without interference from any quarters, particularly without the LDP-ODM-K pushing in its totally corrupted and unpopular supporters. Muhoroni, they say is a cosmopolitan farming zone with a large group of highly educated residents who believe in transparency and basic rights of electing an MP of their choice themselves. It is the home of people of multi-ethnic groups from diverse tribal background.

The Muhoroni farmers also do not want their children to be misused by their MP with simple handouts in campaign blood money, where they are told to beat up anybody who does not seem to be a supporter of the MP. Some of the youths are still languishing in remand prison at Kodiaga main Prison in Kisumu following their arrest on May 28, 2006 during the LDP grassroots elections for causing fracas and mayhem in Chemelil, Muhoroni and Koru.

What has emerged so far is that the MP Ayiecho Olweny did not even bother to have the arraigned youths bailed out nor has he ever visited them in the remand prison to the chagrins of their parents.

Furthermore, what has emerged now is that Raila's leadership style in Luo Nyanza is not anybody's style anymore. People are aggressively revolting. They want a vision for future intensive development and they do not support constant accusation against other parties.

People are advising Raila to stop traveling around the countryside with the likes of Prof. Ayiecho Olweny as this reflects badly on his own image. In many discussions among the voters at the various forums, indications are that a large number of voters will go for other parties if this trend of imposing unpopular candidates on the electorate continues unabated.

Raila Odinga got a taste of the electorates real feeling when he visited Muhoroni Town and Koru on Saturday December 30, 2006. Legislator Prof. Ayiecho Olweny accompanied him. The residents acknowledged Raila, but did not want their local MP to talk, making it clear to Raila that Prof. Ayiecho Olweny's time was up. Before his tour of Muhoroni, Raila and his entourage were lavishly entertained at Chemelil Sugar Company Club/Guest house with lunch provided by the company.

On December 29, 2006 a meeting called for the selective teachers, CDF committee members, Councilors and Chiefs aborted when only 50 people turned up. The meeting was called with the specific agenda to discuss the Muhoroni CDF but some fishy accounts were presented for discussion. Up to this moment, residents have no clue about the spending of the CDF money and many other funds.

From the website, the Muhoroni CDF committee members were finally made public, explaining clearly why it is non-functional. The MP hold the position of the patron and chairman respectively, while the illiterate treasurer holds the cheque book and is a signatory together with him. The rest of the 22 members (more than required by law) are loyal Councilors from Miwani, Muhoroni. Others are the supporters of the LDP politicians. There is also a coordinator from the MP's own sub-clan of Wang'aya who is an engineer by profession, but whose role is not clearly defined. He is alleged to have been involved in many shady construction deals where the CDF money is said to have been given out with no outcome.

Another issue worth mentioning is about a lorry which is alleged to have been loaded with sugar which had been weighed at the Weigh Bridge at Chemelil Sugar Company. The lorry it is rumoured, belonged to the MP and his wife. The lorry load of sugar was supposed to be taken to unknown destination for sale on December 22, 2006 with a license belonging to a resident of Awasi Town by the name of Mr. Misera Okwaro, a prominent member of the so-called "Awasi Summit" and the chairman of Awasi market business traders group. Unfortunately for the MP, the OCS Awasi Police Station was tipped and the lorry was intercepted, impounded and taken to Awasi Police Station.

In connection with this particular incident, the Marketing Manager of Chemelil Sugar Company, Mr. Matwere and the company's Procurement Superintendent, Mr. Nelson-Ndeda were picked up by the police for questioning. The lorry was later released to the MP, but over 200 bags of sugar were allegedly left at the police station for some unknown reasons.

So far it is not yet known what has happened with the seized consignment. But according to our sources, the man involved in the ongoing theft and sale of sugar at Chemelil Sugar Company is someone who has been a very close friend to the Chemelil Sugar Company's managing director Prof. Julius Omondi Nyabundi, a close associate of the MP.

Fearing further KACC investigations, the top managers of this semi-insolvent company are said to have hastily engaged themselves in a shopping spree for new top of the art vehicles. Those who have purchased the new cars included the MD himself, the Financial Accountant, the Acting Factory Manager, the Transport and Acting Agriculture Manager, the Procurement Manager and the Marketing Manager.

Another incident which shocked the Muhoroni residents occurred on January 13, 2007 at Kamswa South, Nyang'oma location during the funeral of Mr. Oyuaya's son.

The populist Muhoroni politician Mr. James Onyango K'Oyoo who is also a leading aspirant for Muhoroni parliamentary seat, who happens to have donated a lot of money towards funeral expenses, was accosted by the angry mourners to declare his political party and to clarify his relationship with Raila Odinga while a member of the Kenya Sugar Board Mr. Samuel Bonyo was allegedly chased out of the funeral home. It was further alleged that he is one of those who have misappropriated the resources of the Chemelil Sugar Company.

The mourners, according to the sources accused Mr. Bonyo of not helping the farmers in anyway. The KSB Director, it was further claimed did not come out of his car due to the hostility of the crowd which also shouted at Mr. Onyango K'Oyoo asking him to keep away from the KSB director if he wanted the electorate in the area to support and vote for him.

The hostile crowd then turned the heat on their MP Prof. Olweny and told him in his face that this was his last funeral to attend and that he will not come back. The MP was barred from addressing the hostile crowd of mourners and left the funeral home in huff.

It was claimed that during the recent secret meting at Awasi market, the MP and his supporters hired six notorious political goons to harass his perceived rivals. The meeting was held on December 13, 2006 in a hotel in Awasi market. The six goons whose names were given as Jacob Ominde Rono, Stephen Oduor Nanga, Tobias Ochieng', Isaac Ochieng', Leonard Miruka and Caleb Okoth Miruka all come from Thurbie village in Nyang'oma Location and were ferried to the function by a pick-up registration number KZE 319 which belong to the Nyando County Council CESS Committee Chairman who is alleged to be a violent campaign manager of the MP Ayiecho Olweny.

According to our informer, the two of the six goons are the sons of Mr. Miruka Masero, a close political associate of Prof. Olweny. He is also the treasurer of the CESS Committee. The goons were hired to intimidate and beat up other upcoming potential aspirants and heckle them during the meetings. It has been reported that ever since the December fiasco, the Muhoroni MP has gone underground not to be seen in public to avoid embarrassing questions from the constituents.

One of the prominent campaign manager of the MP is currently facing a number of criminal cases at Nyando Law Courts in Ahero Town. He is accused of being involved in political violence during the LDP grassroot elections on May 28, 2006. According to a source, he also has a case about the alleged theft of one acre of land from the owner, a Mr. Jack Orimba. All the cases were filed in court during the month of November 2006.

It is now the popular opinion of Muhoroni residents that the corrupted CESS committee under Prof. Olweny's political sycophant, a Mr. Onyango Ong'ou should be dissolved. This is because the feeder and access roads in the Nyando Sugarbelt are in a deplorable state, making the farmers to lose millions of shillings as harvesting of cane cannot take place during the rains. The residents are also demanding for an urgent auditing to be carried out by competent external auditors with the view to establish the extent of corruption in the CESS committees.

Meanwhile, the farmers in Chemelil and Nandi sugarcane growing zones are asking the Agriculture Minister to remove the Managing Director of the Chemelil Sugar Company Prof. Julius Omondi Nyabundi with immediate effect. This came in the wake of the Minister's promise made during a meeting with the South Nandi farmers in November 2006. The meeting was held at the Kimwani ADC Farm where the farmers had demanded the MD's immediate sacking due to corruption and mismanagement.

The farmers had given the Minister two months ultimatum, fearing that the Minister's lack of foresight and appropriate action could destroy the sugar industry.

There is an agreed consensus between the Nandis' and the Luo farmers that Kirwa's promise to deliver the Nandis vote to President Mwai Kibaki in the next general election should be derailed. The farmers said that Kirwa's promise to deliver the farmers votes to the President is ridiculous as he has done nothing for the impoverished sugarcane farmers in the region.

They say that unless Minister Kirwa sorts out the mess in Chemelil Sugar Company, his appeal to the farmers to vote for President Kibaki should be ignored and treated with the contempt it deserves.

In the recently published performance appraisal published on December 9, 2006, Chemelil is on position 115 out of 116. This is self-explanatory and there is nothing more to say to the Agriculture Minister, who is being accused of appointing wrong and unqualified managers, board members and not lobbying for the goodwill of the government to revive the sugar industry.