The Kuria community in Migori county will send a delegation to meet ODM leader Raila Odinga to push for the formation of a new county through the Building Bridges Initiative.
On Sunday at Kebaroti Catholic Church, elders and leaders from the community said they will break party lines to have talks with Raila over the matter.
Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama (Jubilee) said he firmly supports President Uhuru Kenyatta administration but meeting with Raila will be for the community's benefit.
“We have gone through the Punguza Mizigo initiative and as a community, we have all hopes on the handshake push for a referendum,” Kitayama said.
Nominated MP Dennitah Ghati (ODM) said that Raila is the father of devolution and a regional kingpin hence would support the bid.
“We have faith that Raila will be our voice in getting the new county. Elders from Kuria will meet the leader through Senator Ochillo Ayacko,” Ghati said.
Elder Matiko Bohoko, chairman of former Kuria councillors Samuel Marwa and former Kuria legislator Samson Nyagakende said the community had already sent the proposal to the BBI team.
The three said they have worked out a declaration which they will issue through Ayacko on Wednesday to plan the delegation's meeting with Raila.
“We are lobbying and will whip all leaders and opinion shapers in one direction,” Nyagakende said.
Bohoko said the issue of the county and political inclusivity has been the reason the community has voted against the majority Luo in Migori since the 1992 multi-party elections.
Ayacko said he will facilitate the Kuria delegates meeting with Raila.
“We have 2022 elections coming ahead and we need to speak in one voice. The [proposed] new county will bring harmony in the area,” Ayacko said.
In the August 2017 presidential poll, Uhuru Kenyatta garnered 41,951 votes (65 per cent) while Raila Odinga garnered 21,202 votes (34 per cent) in Kuria.
The results were later nullified by the Supreme Court, on grounds of irregularities in the process.
The two MPs in the region, Kitayama and Mathias Robi of Kuria West, were both elected on Jubilee Party tickets.
(edited by O. Owino)
