Kisumu youths wait till late to speak to Joho

ODM deputy party leader, Governor Ali Hassan Joho addresses Kisumu residents at the entrance of Kisumu International Airport on September 30, 2016. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP.

What you need to know:

  • Most of the city residents were eager to display their love for the Mombasa Governor and Orange Democratic Movement party (ODM) deputy leader Hassan Joho who arrived in the lakeside city hours earlier.
  • At the heart of the city, business was not as usual as a crowd, mostly consisting of youths, chanted pro-Joho slogans and interrupted traffic along Oginga Odinga road near KCB roundabout from 7 to 9pm.

The Joho effect hit Kisumu on Friday evening as residents waited till late to welcome probably the most vocal politician from the Coast.

Most of the city residents were eager to display their love for the Mombasa Governor and Orange Democratic Movement party (ODM) deputy leader Hassan Joho who arrived in the lakeside city hours earlier.

At the heart of the city, business was not as usual as a crowd, mostly consisting of youths, chanted pro-Joho slogans and interrupted traffic along Oginga Odinga road near KCB roundabout from 7 to 9pm.

Motorists had to seek alternative routes or make a U-turns using the opposite lane.

They shouted; “Tunataka Joho, hatutoki hapa hadi tuongee na Joho. (We want Joho, we will not move until he speaks to us),” they chanted.

“I am having this placard with Raila and Joho because they are our hope in good leadership in the country. Joho has made the party popular at the coast and I support him fully,” said one Andrew Odhiambo.

At 8:13 pm the ODM entourage finally passed the road section but to their disappointment, none of the party leaders spoke to them.

CELEBRATE 10 YEARS

The party is in the region to celebrate 10 years since its inception and a series of rallies are expected on Saturday afternoon led by party leader Raila Odinga who jets in later in the day.

Similar events were held in Mombasa and Nairobi last month.

Disciplinary action against 15 elected leaders who defected from the party to Jubilee is expected to take centre stage.

They are two governors, a deputy governor and a number of MPs.

Meanwhile, the party has hinted on going alone in the 2017 General Election without its Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) partners.

This comes after his Cord co-principals distanced themselves from a three-day National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that was planned for this weekend in Nairobi.

The proposed joint meeting flopped after Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper Party) and Moses Wetang’ula’s (Ford Kenya) confirmed their absence, citing “other engagements”.