Machage gambles with MP’s seat after leaving ODM

Migori is one the counties whose senators will not be defending their seats in the forthcoming elections.

The incumbent, Dr Wilfred Machage, has opted to run for the Kuria West seat, which he will try to wrestle from the current MP Mathias Robi.

Mr Robi clinched the seat on a URP ticket in the last General Election.

Dr Machage made the decision after falling out with the ODM leadership, presenting him with zero chance of retaining the Senate seat.
He had held the Kuria parliamentary seat for 10 years before he was handed the ODM ticket in the last elections, which propelled him to the Senate following a negotiated democracy between the Luo and the Kuria.

Dr Machage, a grassroots mobiliser with deep pockets, has already hit the ground running, popularising his new party, Democratic Party, on which he will contest the seat.

“I am going for Kuria West seat after wide consultations with my supporters. Let it be clearly understood that I will be contesting the parliamentary seat,” said Dr Machage.

Shortly before he left ODM, party leader Raila Odinga told off the senator describing him as among the few traitors who were adding no value to the Orange party.

“Let him go. We  have  many qualified people who are ready to take his position. We only want to deal with people who are steadfast in ODM,” said Mr Odinga.

Dr Machage had been gravitating towards the Jubilee administration for the last two years and skipped nearly all the public functions attended by Mr Odinga.

FIGHT FOR SEAT
Mr Odinga appeared incensed soon after Dr Machage told ODM leadership to stop taking the support of the Kuria community for granted.

“We have many options as Kuria people and our votes are in high demand. We need respect and recognition from our Luo brothers so that we can co-exist peacefully,” said the Senator.

“We voted for ODM in the last elections but nobody appreciates that. Instead, I am heckled whenever I address meetings in Luoland. We are not going to be taken for a ride,” stated Dr Machage.

But the outgoing senator is already facing a stiff challenge in Kuria West from journalist Matiko Bohoko (ODM) who comes from the populous Wakira clan with Dr Machage.

Some clan members feel Dr Machage is old and should pave way for young leadership.

“What he has failed to do for us in the last 15 years, he will not do if given another five years,” said Mr Barack Chacha, a human rights activist.

Mr Robi, who hails from the Bugumbe clan, says he will also not let the seat slip out of his hands easily.

He is believed to be have a head start on the Jubilee ticket due to his close friendship with Deputy President William Ruto and has massive resources at his disposal.

On the Senate front, many candidates have sprung up on ODM ticket seeking to replace Dr Machage.

They are criss-crossing villages seeking for votes ahead of the Orange party primaries slated for April 19.

Former Migori assembly speaker Gordon Ogolla has rolled out his campaigns in the eight sub-counties for the seat and is hopeful of victory.

“I will clinch this seat because I have done the required groundwork,” says Mr Ogolla, a Nakuru based lawyer.

Also in the race is Mr John Magaiwa from Kuria.

STIFF CONTEST
He is a close ally of the ODM leader Raila Odinga and is rooting for negotiated democracy to return the seat to Kuria.

If this happens, he will automatically clinch the ticket given the fact that he is the senior most ODM politician from the Kuria region.

He vied for the seat in the last primaries and won, but was prevailed upon to leave the seat for Dr Machage.

“Due to the numerical weakness of the Kuria, only negotiated democracy will see us clinch county seats,” he says.

Former Migori MP Owino Likowa is also in the Senate race and is banking on old political networks to win the seat.

Charles Katege, a former Knut national deputy secretary general, has also declared his bid for the seat and is a favourite among teachers he worked with.

“I want to improve the oversight role so that the county government becomes accountable to the people. Dr Machage abdicated his responsibility soon after his election,” says Mr Katege.

Others in the race include IT expert Billy Mijungu, management consultant Kennedy Nyamula, former Mathare MP Ochieng Mbeo, radio journalist Ben Oluoch Okello, Educationist Solomon Hodo and Eddy Oketch who is the youngest in the contest.