Report by {A special Correspondent in Kenya, name to be withheld}
A dreadful text message accusing Kenya’ embattled Prime Minister Raila Odinga of practicing nepotism in the grand coalition government by appointing only his kins to the lucrative diplomatic postings, parastatals and quasi-government boards,
The text message authored by unknown persons was posted last night to mostly Luos late last night via cellphone mobiles phones The text messages are circulating in both Nairobi and Kisumu, and nobody seemed to know iuts source of origin..
It has listed those who are alleged to be the relatives, kith and kins of the Odinga as The Prime Minister Raila Odinga, himself from Sakwa Bondo, his elder brother Dr. Oburu Oginga, an Assistant Minister for Finance {Sakwa Bondo}, Mr. Joe Ager, deputy managing director Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited {Sakwa Bondo},Paul Gondi, chairman of the Geothermal Board {Sakwa Bondo},Rose Buyu a director{Sakwa Bondo},Elkana Odembo, the newly appointed Kenya’s Ambassador to France, who is married to the sister of the ODM Chief Whip and MP for Gem Jakoyo Midiwo. Midiwo’s mother and Raila’s mother are sisters from one mother one father.
The text message also listed Mrs Berily Achieng’ Oginga, Raila’s sister who has been appointed to the Pension Scheme Board as a director. Another sister Akinyi has been appointed a consuoate to Austria,Prof. Kacquiline Oduol the Permanent Secretary for Genda, is married to Raila’s uncle in Alego Kakan in the family where Raila’s mother the late Mary Juma Odinga hails from.
Both Prof. Oduol and Mrs Rose Buyu contested the elections in two different parliamentary seats in the last general elections and lost during the ODM preliminaries. Oduol contested in Alego –Usonga constituency while Buyu contested in the Kisumu Town West.
The hostility against the Odingas was sparked off by a lethal speech delivered at the funeral of Mrs Olage Awiti, the elderly mother of the Marie Stopes Clinics country and regional director Cyprian Otieno Awiti at Mawego village in East Karachuonyo Location, Rachuonyo district a week ago.
A Nairobi based lawyer Onyango Oloo faulted Raila Odinga for having openly discriminated the residents of the greater old Southern Nyanza region for not appointing any of their sons and daughters to senior government positions, though, he had a half loaf in the coalition.
The lawyer said all the residues out of the coalition was only benefiting people who are related in one way or the other to the Odinga family.
And the text message asked. “What have we got out of this coalition as the Luos?
Out of four Luo permanent Secretaries in the coalition government, only one David Nalo who is assigned to the East African Community hails from Nyando. The rest are from Siaya and Bondo districts, and only Dr. Nyikal a former director of medical Services hails from Kisumu Rural.
The attack 0nnRaila at the funeral before thousands of mourner prompted the Prime Minister to react angrily at an humble request by the area MP Eng. James Rege, who had pleaded with the Prime Minister to come to his rescue of his constituents who were dying of hunger and famine.
The MP also told the PM that all the important feeder and access roads as well as highway roads linking his constituency with the neighbouring districts were in pathetic conditions thereby hampering trade and traveling in the area.
But Raila responded with flurry of anger telling the MP that his complaints were not worth anything to be considered. He advised the MP to channel his complaints to the relevant Ministries in charge of roads and .Special Programmes, saying that such subjects cannot be tackled at funeral gatherings. These answers did not go well with the residents of Karachuonyo who appeared to have taken them as the PM’s display of excessive arrogance.
The Author of the text message in circulation remains a mystery.
Ends