Day of high drama as confusion, chaos mar polls to pick Speakers
Elisha Jack Oraro is sworn in as Kisumu County Assembly speaker after he won the election on September 20, 2022.
Former county ministers and ex-lawmakers were among those elected Speakers as some county assemblies resumed sessions after the August General Election.
After the swearing-in of new members, the election of Speaker was the next order of business for the regional Houses that reconvened yesterday, among them Machakos, Turkana, Kisumu, Kericho, Trans Nzoia, Isiolo and Nyamira.
In Kisumu, it took the last-minute intervention of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga for the party’s candidate, Mr Elisha Jack Oraro, to clinch the Speaker’s seat. Mr Oraro won narrowly, warding off a spirited fight by Mr Samuel Ong’ow. He garnered 25 votes against Mr Ong’ow’s 22 in a duel that was decided in a second round of voting. The first round saw Mr Oraro get 24 votes against Mr Ong’ow’s 23.
For the position of Deputy Speaker, only two candidates — Mr Vincent Odhiambo Obuya and Mrs Nereah Akoth Okombo — competed, with the latter carrying the day with 24 votes against 23 for Mr Obuya.
The other contestants, Mr Kenneth Amondi and Mr James Kounah Ochieng, got no votes.
Others elected Speaker were Directorate of Criminal Investigators boss George Kinoti’s executive advisor Mohammed Roba (Isiolo), former Manga MCA Enock Okero (Nyamira), former Finance Executive Andrew Wanyonyi (Trans Nzoia), lawyer Ms Anne Kiusya (Machakos) and former Finance Executive Patrick Mutai (Kericho). Mr Oraro was the Speaker of the last assembly, a house that impeached his two predecessors.
The oath-taking ceremony in Kisumu was interrupted for more than 25 minutes after assembly Clerk Owen Ojuok stood to make a communication to the House, which was said to be aimed at stopping the swearing in of about 11 nominated MCAs. One of the MCAs snatched a document that the clerk had in his hands before being wrestled down by colleagues.
When sanity was restored, the exercise went on smoothly with all the 47 MCAs voting. On Monday, however, almost half of the newly elected MCAs boycotted a meeting attended by Mr Odinga, in defiance of the ODM leader, who wanted the legislators to rally behind Mr Oraro.
Only 24 elected MCAs attended a dinner held at the Grand Royal Swiss Hotel, as the others allied to Mr Ong’ow skipped it, the result of serious lobbying that could have embarrassed Mr Odinga if MCAs from his Kisumu backyard had rejected his candidate of choice.
In Siaya, Mr George Okode was elected as the Speaker for the third time. The pioneer head of the legislative wing of the Siaya County Government outfoxed his main rival, lawyer Evans Oruenjo, to secure the seat. The latter got a paltry two votes against Mr Okode’s 38. Mr Okode was first elected Speaker in 2013 and has won another five years, making him the longest serving county assembly Speaker in Luo Nyanza.
For three months, Mr Okode acted as Siaya governor in 2014 after a High Court sitting in Kisumu nullified the election of Mr Cornel Rasanga in a petition filed by Mr William Oduol, the current Deputy Governor.
In his maiden speech after the landslide victory, Mr Okode lauded the MCAs for not letting “intimidation from certain quarters” to influence their decision to vote for him.
“I am aware there were temptations, pressure and attempts to influence you but you stood firm on your ground. The third assembly ... will resist any external influence and be in charge of her own destiny,” he said.
In Homa Bay, several aspirants for the assembly Speaker position protested at being locked out of the race in a scheme, they claimed, was meant to favour their rival.
Only former Central Karachuonyo MCA Julius Gaya and former Gwassi North MCA Evance Mariba were cleared to vie in elections slated for today out of those who had presented their papers by Monday morning.
Assembly Clerk Faith Apuko said the other four did not meet all the requirements. One of the applicants has filed a lawsuit but is yet to get a court order.
“The others did not meet all the requirements despite submitting their names on time. They are, therefore, disqualified,” she said, adding that some did not attach relevant documents on their application forms.
“One of the requirements was for one to be proposed by an MCA. The applicant should also have someone seconding him or her, which some applicants did not do,” the clerk said.
The six who had been cleared were Mr John Apollo, the chief of protocol in county government; former Central Karachuonyo MCA Julius Gaya; Youth Empowerment Bridge Organization Africa director Fredrick Gaya, Mr Mariba, Mr Innocent Masara and Mr Pascal Odhiambo.
Those locked out claim the information about the deadline and other requirements were deliberately made available late. Ms Apuko rejected the applications of aspirants who submitted their papers even a minute after the deadline.
The strict deadline prevented seven people from submitting their documents. They had last week notified the House of their interest and collected nomination forms.
Ms Zilper Opapo and Polycup Otieno, who were among those locked out, said they had invested their time holding meetings with MCAs to sell their agenda hoping they would be elected Speaker. They castigated the process as fraudulent.
“We had one day, Friday, to do everything. Unfortunately, some of the requirements could only be [met] if we had more time,” Ms Opapo said.
Another requirement was that applicants had to get clearance from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
Mr Apollo also protested the move and threatened to go to court.
He was yet to get a court order by yesterday evening to suspend the election of the assembly Speaker.
Reporting by Rushdie Oudia, George Odiwuor and Kassim Adinasi
