Jubilee, ODM to square it out in Migori senatorial race
Migori senatorial candidates Eddy Oketch of ODM and Sophie Dhibirah of Jubilee.
Daggers have been drawn in the Migori senatorial race with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee set to square it out with Azimio presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga’s ODM.
With incumbent Ochilo Ayacko setting his sight on the gubernatorial seat, the senate position is up for grabs, pitting ODM’s Eddy Oketch, Jubilee’s Sophie Dhibirah and Billy Graham who is vying as an Independent candidate.
With barely 11 days to the August 9 polls, Ms Dhibirah says she is confident of breaking the gender glass ceiling in the county to become its first female senator.
Former ambassador to Nigeria, the later Wilfred Machage was the first Migori senator in 2013 before the late Journalist Ben Oluoch Okello took over in 2017 and subsequently Mr Ayacko in a by-election conducted in 2020.
Ms Dhibirah is enjoying the camaraderie between her party leader – President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga.
The Head of State is the chairman of Azimio la Umoja coalition party on whose ticket Mr Odinga is running for president.
Ms Dhibirah, 40, is also seeking to bank on the diverse nature of the county in her bid to get elected as the next senator.
Born and raised in Suna East Constituency, she says she has what it takes to ascend to the county post.
Migori County is a diverse county made up of close to half a million voters in the county. The region has also predominantly supported Mr Odinga’s presidential candidature.
The cosmopolitan nature of the county also provides a space for candidates who are not from the region to gain the support of the Kuria and the Luo community.
Other candidates who have previously been elected despite coming from other regions include Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.
“Migori county people know what they really want. Although we support the candidature of Raila Odinga we need leaders who have an understanding of the problems that people go through. I have worked with the people for a long time and I know what they want,” she says.
According to the 40-year-old, the representation of women in parliament is crucial and her decision to go for the seat was based on the need to be on the decision table.
“We have had the woman representative seat but I did not go for it because I know that women deserve any seat in this country. The two-thirds gender rule is a game-changer and we need more candidates to come out and support women candidates across the country,” Ms Dhibirah says.
She also believes that the high poverty levels in the county have denied so many young people the opportunity to succeed in life.
“We have even had young people getting into early marriages because they do not have any alternatives. If we focus on promoting legislation in parliament, our people will get the educational institutions and the power to achieve their goals,” she adds.
She has held senior roles in the media industry for close to two decades before quitting in 2016 to join non-governmental organisations such as African Women's Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP), United Nations (UN) Women, and Echo-Network Africa.
On several occasions, she has also been approached by her opponents to drop her bid and support other candidates within the Azimio coalition.
She, however, says that she has rejected the plans and she will put up a spirited fight to the end when the people of Migori will decide.
“Whenever someone approaches to ask me to drop my candidature, what I always ask them is why I need to be out of the race. The other candidates should step out of the race to support me and not the other way round,” she adds.
