Push for political shift in Raila’s Nyanza turf nets Ruto 360,000 new members
President William Ruto with Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga and Cabinet Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy Eliud Owalo during a working tour in Homa Bay County on October 7, 2023.
President William Ruto’s relentless forays into Azimio leader Raila Odinga’s traditional political turf appears to be bearing fruit, with UDA registering over 360,000 new members in Luo Nyanza in its ongoing recruitment drive.
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has been on a charm offensive in Mr Odinga’s political bastion since January, with the party targeting at least 40 percent of registered voters in a region Dr Ruto performed dismally in the 2022 elections.
UDA Secretary-General Cleophas Malala said the party has already recruited 360,224 new members in the past six months alone in the region that has over the years voted for the ODM leader almost to the last man.
He said the party has 139,224 new members in Homa Bay County, 91,000 in Siaya County, 71,000 in Kisumu County and 59,000 in Migori County.
“For the first time, the Nyanza region has shown there is enough democratic space and is trying to break the chains of dictatorship where they have been confined to a single party for so long. We are targeting at least 40 per cent of registered voters in the Luo Nyanza region,” Mr Malala told ‘Nation’.
The four Luo Nyanza counties boast a total of 2,126,989 registered voters as per the 2022 Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) election register.
In a bid to paint Mr Odinga’s political strongholds yellow with an eye on the 2027 polls, the President has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to win the hearts of voters.
As part of the sustained political assault, Dr Ruto has been keen on popularising his UDA party in the region, with the President’s party opening offices in Nyanza.
The Head of State has also been dangling targeted development projects in Azimio strongholds, doling out government appointments to politicians and influential figures from Opposition regions, as well as working with Azimio rebels and losers in the August 9, 2022 polls.
ICT Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo has been at the forefront in the onslaught on Mr Odinga’s support base, backed by other government appointees from the region including Internal Security Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, as he pushes for a political paradigm shift in the region.
The CS has hosted grassroots groups, such as those of teachers, small-scale traders, elders, religious leaders and farmers to sell UDA.
President William Ruto during the Sunday service at Uriri Technical Training Institute, Migori County on October 8. He was accompanied by leaders including six MPs from Mt Kenya region.
He has also been using development to woo residents as opposed to attacking Mr Odinga, a move that has not worked well for other leaders who have tried to take on the Opposition leader.
Currently the senior most Luo leader in the Kenya Kwanza government and also seen as the President’s Nyanza pointman, Mr Owalo has been charged with the responsibility of luring voters who overwhelmingly voted for the Opposition in 2022 to the Kenya Kwanza fold.
“We have a strong team the President has assembled and positioned in strategic government positions and that has really helped us,” said Mr Malala.
“One is CS Owalo who has done a marvellous job on the ground. There is also Interior PS Raymond Omollo and very strong regional managers in former Migori governor Okoth Obado, Charles Owino in Siaya and Dr Evans Kidero in Homa Bay. Nothing will stop us from taking over Luo Nyanza,” he said.
As part of Kenya Kwanza’s forays in Luo Nyanza, Mr Owalo is believed to have set up an elaborate UDA party machinery in the region to undertake recruitment of at least 1.5 million new members by early 2024.
As a sign of UDA’s growing stature in the region, there is fierce competition for party positions in the forthcoming party elections scheduled for April 2024.
The former Kakamega senator said UDA’s plan is to drive its membership numbers to 15 million before the next elections.
As part of the plan, he said, they intend to hit between 12 million and 13 million by the end of next year from the current 7.5 million.
“The drive is countrywide but we are going into areas where we did not get votes and that is why we have given a lot of emphasis to Luo Nyanza, Western, Coast and North Eastern regions,” he said.
According to statistics of the 2022 elections, the inroads Dr Ruto made in Mr Odinga’s previous strongholds of Coast and Western cemented his victory, defeating the former premier by a paltry 200,000 votes.
Dr Ruto saw his tally shoot up at the Coast from the 287,066 they recorded in 2017 to 324,353 as Mr Odinga’s tally in the region dropped from 801,031 in 2017 to 648,834.
In Western, Dr Ruto garnered 629,552 votes, close to three times the 242,000 votes UhuRuto had in 2017.
With Mr Owalo’s efforts, the ground has been warming up to President Ruto, with three of the six MPs from Siaya, Mr Odinga’s home county, now working with the government.
The three are Mr Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Dr Gedion Ochanda (Bondo) and Mr David Ochieng (Ugenya). Siaya Deputy Governor William Oduol has also switched camps and is now working with the Kenya Kwanza government.
Beyond Siaya, Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, Rongo MP Paul Abuor and Lang’ata MP Felix Odiwuor are some of the leaders who are working with President Ruto.
In March, Mr Owalo facilitated and mobilised 28 senior Luo politicians to join the UDA party and were warmly received by President Ruto at State House.
They included former governors Kidero, Jack Ranguma and Obado, former senators Fred Outa and Rose Nyamunga, former MPs Nicholas Gumbo, Aloo Ogeka, Pollyns Daima, Martin Ogindo, John Pesa, Ken Nyagudi, Clarkson Karan, Silvans Osele, Jared Kopiyo, Omondi Anyanga, Odoyo Owidi, ex-Kisumu Majority Leader Samwel Ong'ow and former Police spokesperson Owino.
More recently, he also brought former senator Elizabeth Ongoro and former MP Ayiecho Olweny into the UDA fold.
With the region showing a willingness to work with the President, appointments have come in handy, with former Rangwe MP Martin Ogindo appointed Kenya Fish Marketing Authority chairperson, Odoyo Owidi, Lake Victoria South Water Services Board chairperson, and Dianga Waore as chairman Lake Basin Development Authority.
Mr Ranguma was appointed chairman of SACCO Societies Regulatory Authority and Mr Ong’ow was named a director at the Agriculture and Food Authority.
“It is also noteworthy that the chairmen and even CASs appointed have been placed in strategic State agencies that are a perfect problem-solution fit for the region's developmental needs and are, therefore, key to Owalo’s plans to re-engineer the region’s fortunes,” said political analyst George Ojwang’.
Mr Ojwang’ said Mr Owalo’s rapid rise in Luo Nyanza politics could be linked to his gentle mien and non-confrontational approach to politics.
Unlike those before him who have engaged in demonisation and bare-knuckle attacks on Mr Odinga and ODM, the analyst said CS Owalo has kept off personality and name-calling politics and has rather chosen to come in peace dangling development.
“It is noteworthy, however, that as Luo politics undergoes the much-expected generational gear-shift, the current leverage that Owalo commands cannot be wished away. Maybe the odds are conspiring in his favour. Whereas it is still early days, Owalo’s development-first approach seems to be gaining traction on the ground, and only time will tell,” he said.
Mr Owalo has been involved in development initiatives including in fisheries, cooperatives, agriculture and relief food distribution, traversing at least 29 constituencies in the four counties.
He has also been dabbling in sports where he has been involved in various sporting fundraisers and activities including mobilising resources for Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards, Shabana and Migori Youth football clubs.
