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Siaya and Kisumu politics took a dramatic twist after big names fell in controversy-ridden Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominations.
Among those who lost were two close relatives of ODM leader Raila Odinga and several of his allies.
Raila’s cousin, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo, who is also the Opposition’s deputy leader of minority in Parliament, lost the primaries.
His elder brother and nominated MP, Oburu Oginga was also among the casualties of the tension-packed primaries.
Stand still
As the fallen leaders mull their next political move, Kisumu was at a standstill after two parallel winners were announced for the governor’s party ticket.
Governor Jack Ranguma and his rival-senator Anyang’ Nyong’o were declared winners in an exercise riddled with confusion.
Kisumu returning Officer Tom Okongo drove to a remote village at Thurdibuoro in Nyakach to declare Prof Nyong’o the winner.
Mr Okongo announced that Prof Nyong’o had garnered 164,110 votes to beat Mr Ranguma’s 91,480 votes. The announcement was made even before a quarter of the 710 polling stations had tallied their results.
Some 45 minutes later, Okong’o’s deputy, Richard Kyondi, issued Ranguma with a nomination certificate after declaring him the winner with 118,934 votes against Nyong’o’s 47, 930.
Earlier, Okong’o had said he was contemplating resigning after many of the sub-county returning officers went missing.
Yesterday, the county was at a standstill as the party remained mum over the double issuance of certificates.
A similar scenario was witnessed in Migori on Tuesday after Governor Okoth Obado and his rival Ochillo Ayako were both declared winners by two different election officials.
Riots rocked Kisumu early in the morning with youths blocking roads and burning tyres to protest against what they termed as the party’s shambolic nominations.
In Siaya, Midiwo and Oburu, both of who have served in Raila’s kitchen cabinet for nearly a decade, rejected the nomination results claiming the votes had been rigged.
Midiwo lost the primaries to his long-time rival - Nairobi businessman Elisha Odhiambo. According to the returning officer, Midiwo garnered 8,950 votes against his rival’s 13,400 votes.
But the deputy leader of the minority claimed he garnered more than 10,000 votes, insisting he had defeated Odhiambo by 1,000 votes by the time the tallying ended.
Lost to incumbent
Oburu, on his part, lost to incumbent MP Gideon Ochanda. According to poll results, Oburu garnered 4,000 votes against Ochanda’s 28,446.
Interestingly, the returning officer, Joshua Anyona, later called a press conference in Kisumu, 100km away and five hours later, to declare that Oburu, not Ochanda, had won the vote.
In the second set of figures, Oburu had garnered 15,784 votes against Ochanda’s 9,538.
Asked why it took him five hours to change his mind, Mr Anyona said he declared Ochanda the winner under duress. [Kepher Otieno, Kevin Omolo, Dalton Nyabundi, Harold Odhiambo, Scophine Otieno And Olivia Odhiambo]
