Ugenya Politicians warned of early campaigns

With the ravaging effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, Ugenya politicians have been put on notice to stop engaging in early campaigns.

The warning came in the wake of one aspirant by the name Dr. Daniel Odhiambo being grilled by the security agencies for frequently violating the laid down Covid-19 containment measures.

Mr. Odhiambo who is a civil servant had a difficult time explaining himself to the detectives for his involvement in early campaigns several months before the election.

At the same time, governor Okoth Obado’s lawyer Rodgers Sagana has also been involved in early campaigns while gathering people in violation of the Covid-19 prevention measures just like his counterpart Odhiambo.

The two leaders have intensified their campaigns in Ugenya at a time when Siaya county is struggling with huge Covid-19 cases which saw the Ministry of Health impose strict containment measures such as the 7Pm curfew.

In the meantime, the other major candidates who have declared their interests in the 2022 Ugenya parliamentary race are Honorable Daniel Juma, Honorable Chris Karan and the incumbent legislator Honorable David Ochieng.

The three contested in the 2019 Ugenya by-elections which saw Hon David declared the winner followed by Hon Chris Karan then Hon Daniel Juma. Given their undoubted popularity on the ground, the 2022 Ugenya race is still likely to be between these three political bigwigs.

However, a recent opinion poll conducted in the four sub counties of Ugenya involving 3,000 participants revealed that Daniel Juma is likely to give the incumbent David Ochieng a run for his money in the 2022 general elections. They argued that Mr. Ochieng has not achieved much this time round unlike in 2013 when the National government brought projects such as the TTC/KMTC during his first term in office which he rode on.

On his side, Mr. Daniel Juma who despite not campaigning and not filling agents in 90% of the polling stations still managed to garner 78 votes. Besides, Mr. Juma was disadvantaged on the day of the election after his opponents sponsored a morning radio program claiming that he had bowed out of the race.

“Some of my voters after listening to the morning radio narrative called me in the morning of the election expressing their disappointments why I had withdrawn from the election last minute. As a result, majority opted to stay home while those who were already in the line voted for alternative candidates.” Said Mr. Juma while recalling the incident which happened on the voting day as the sponsored radio narrative of withdrawing from the election went on for the better part of the day.