According to reports reaching KSB, there is tension among members of the Kisii community in Kisumu as a by-election in South Mugirango constituency in Kisii district came to an end today, Thursday. The By-election was called after Omingo Magara, the former Treasurer of ODM and immediate former area MP, lost his seat following a successful election petition last year.
In the by-election, Magara contested on a PDP ticket while ODM is seeking the seat by sponsoring Magara’s arch-rival, Ibrahim Ochoi. Magara decamped from ODM when it became clear that he would not get a direct nomination to contest the by-election. In his new Party, he is being supported by ODM opponents lead by renegade William Ruto, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and other ODM rebels.
The problem in Kisumu and the threat facing members of the Kisii community is that Kisumu residents, who are predominantly Luo, expect members of the Kisii community in Kisii to support the ODM candidate because doing so would mean that they are pro-ODM and, by implication, pro-Raila Odinga, a front runner in the 2012 Presidential elections.
Although the Kisii community in Kisumu have nothing to do with the by-election in Kisii, a rejection of ODM candidate (who held the seat by way of Magara) would be construed by Kisumu residents to mean that the community had abandoned the Party.
Following the stealing of Raila’s Presidency in 2007, members of the Kisii community were among those who paid heavily after being attacked for their alleged failure to vote for the Party until Raila Odinga intervened by telling the Luo community not to attack the Kisiis because they voted for the Party which scooped a number of seats in Kisii district.
There is a big number of Kisiis doing business in Kisumu and they are reported to be in a state of panic as vote counting also continues because in case ODM loses the seat, the risk is that they will have to close business and return to their ancestral lands in Kisii.
If the Kisiis in Kisumu are attacked, there is likely to be a domino effect because Luos resident, working or doing business in Kisii will also have to leave. A Source in Kisumu told KSB that some Kisiis had already left Kisumu city to await for the election results and to study the situation before they can decide whether or not to return to Kisumu.
The political dynamic in the situation is purely ethnic and although attacks on Kisiis on the basis of a lost election elsewhere may be illogical, it might be inevitable because ethnicity continues to drive politics in Kenya due to lack of ideological parties where political differences are based on differences in ideas and not ethnic origins.
Okoth Osewe
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