Clan factor could decide outcome of Kisii contest

By JaMeS MBaka

Political antagonists have intensified campaigns in the battle for the Bomachoge Borabu parliamentary seat after the Court of Appeal halted the by-election slated from December  19 in the neighbouring Nyaribari Chache.

The Court of Appeal in Kisumu stopped the Independent electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from conducting a by-election in Nyaribari Chache until an appeal lodged by Dr Chris Bichage, whose election was overturned by the High Court, is heard and determined.

The court set December 9 as the hearing date for Bichage’s appeal.

Consequently, campaign focus has shifted to Bomachoge Borabu parliamentary contest that has now shaped into a three horse race pitting former MP Joel Onyancha(TNA), Peter Kimori (ODM) and Albert Nyaundi of Ford-People.

Official campaigns kicked off on Saturday 23 after IEBC cleared seven candidates to contest the seat including Christopher Siambe (Kenya National Congress) Josiah Maaga (UDF), Nickson Mosingi (Narc-K) and Samson Mbeche of Progressive Party of Kenya (PPK).

As the clock ticks towards December 19, campaigns are gathering momentum, with candidates mounting door-to-door campaigns to woo voters. They are particularly concentrating on the areas where they performed dismally in the March 4 polls.

Voting patterns in Bomachoge Borabu revolve around clan politics and the entry into the race by other candidates is likely to tilt performance scales for the top three aspirants in the race.

The constituency is comprises four major clans — Abamachoge, Abakione, Abambaba and Aboochi.

Except the Aboochi clan, each of them has fielded one or more candidates for the mini-polls.

Onyancha hails from Abakione clan, Nyaundi from Abamachoge clan while Kimori comes from Abambaba clan. This leaves the Aboochi clan with the critical swing vote to determine the next MP for the constituency ODM’s Kimori faces an uphill task to marshal his clan support after Mosingi and Maaga, both from the same clan, threw their hats in the ring.

 Maaga came second in the ODM nominations in the run-up to the March 4 elections.

Tough maths

According to the IEBC register, the Abambaba clan has over 7,000 registered voters. On the other hand, Nyaundi and Siambe hail from Abamachoge clan which equally has a voting bloc of more than 12,000 voters. Siambe was initially in ODM but ditched the party for KNC after the party failed to conduct primaries to pick the candidate.

Onyancha and Mbeche are the candidates from the Abakione clan, which has over 12,000 registered voters while the decisive Aboochi clan has more than 6,000 registered voters.

The constituency has 38,701 registered voters spread across 66 polling station and 80 polling streams.

This scenario and a probable voting pattern has forced candidates to mount vigorous campaigns, with concentration on the critical swing vote bloc. Candidates have avoided ‘highway’ campaigns but instead adopted a house-to-house vote-hunting strategy. ODM is keen to win the Bomachoge Borabu seat to assert its popularity. At Nyaribari Chache, campaign momentum seems to have subsided and candidates retreated to await the court’s decision.