Kibra by-election: Orero says he's not a Raila project

ODM aspirant Peter Orero in Kibera on September 3. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Peter Orero, one of ODM’s aspirants for the Kibra by-election, has said he is not party leader Raila Odinga’s preferred candidate.

Orero said he is not aware of such allegations, and added that if they were there, it was Kibra people saying it because of his close interaction with them for many years as a teacher.

“The preference must be coming from the people. It is not about Raila. We have not talked with Raila on this at any given moment. I have so far campaigned a lot on the ground and my manifesto will resonate well with their aspirations,” he said.

Orero has worked with Kibra people since he started teaching in 1990. “My teaching practice was in Upper Hill School, before I was posted to Kamukunji High," he said.

He left Kamukunji for Upper Hill, where he joined as deputy, and then moved to Lang’ata as principal.

He went back to Upper Hill as principal before again being moved to Dagoretti High in 2017, where he stayed.

Orero has, however, resigned to concentrate on politics.  

"In Lang’ata, we gave a lot of bursaries to students and had a lot of programmes," he said.

Asked if he was pushed into politics, he said: “No one pushed me into politics”.

Orero explained that he had been involved in many elective posts in schools.

He has been Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) executive member, then vice-chairman in Nairobi, before becoming the chairman.

Orero was also the national chairman of the KSSSA and treasurer of the Kenya Basketball Association for 10 years.

He said the death of Kibra MP Ken Okoth shocked him because they had been close friends.

Orero said Okoth put up six classrooms at Upper Hill School, and two of those classrooms were reserved for students from Kibra.

He revealed that football star and Jubilee candidate McDonald Mariga was his former student at Kamukunji High. “He’s a footballer. I was his football coach. I am the one who mentored Mariga to where he is,” he said.

Orero described Mariga as a humble man.