• He said a leader can be elected on the most popular party ticket but still fail to improve the lives of the taxpayer.
• He said Kenyans need individuals who prioritise public service and not those who use those positions to amass public wealth illegally.
Image: FILE
Siaya governor aspirant Nicholas Gumbo has said it takes selfless individuals in positions of leadership to improve the lives of the electorate.
He said a leader can be elected on the most popular party ticket but still fail to improve the lives of the taxpayer.
Gumbo spoke to the Star at his Lwak home in West Asembo ward at the weekend.
"Parties have been a disappointment in Kenya. What they promise and deliver are totally different. It is not political parties that do things. Individuals in positions of leadership do things," he said.
He said Kenyans need individuals who prioritise public service and not those who use those positions to amass public wealth illegally.
"A leader should focus on what they will be remembered for and not what is there for them," Gumbo said.
He said when he was MP for Rarieda, he increased the number of secondary schools in the constituency from 17 to 53. Otiende Amollo is the incumbent MP.
Gumbo also said he found 21 kilometres of roads when he became MP and left while they were 113 kilometres of roads.
In 2017, the former Rarieda legislator unsuccessfully contested against Governor Cornel Rasanga. Rasanga is serving his second and final term as governor.
Gumbo is once again in the race to succeed Rasanga.
The former MP said he will make known the party he will use to seek the seat.
"I have learnt my lessons and intend to improve on them to win the seat. I will identify a party by March 26, as required by law," he told the Star.
In October last year, Movement for Democracy and Growth party boss Ugenya MP David Ochieng said, "Eng Nicholas Gumbo will be the MDG candidate for Siaya. We are confident that we will beat you [ODM] in the Siaya gubernatorial election and beat you again here in Ugenya."
But Gumbo has not said if he will run on MDG.
Gumbo will be contesting against Siaya Senator James Orengo and immediate former police spokesperson Charles Owino.
Gumbo, alias Wajonya, is banking on his track record as an MP to convince Siaya people to elect him governor.
"Let everybody put their records in the open. Leadership is an open book. If I want to be governor of Siaya, let my record speak for me," he said.
"If I have been in public space for, say, 30 to 40 years and there is not even a single student who can credibly stand and say that so and so gave me an opportunity or if you don't have a single infrastructure that you can say you have influenced its implementation, then you have no business wanting to be governor."
Gumbo said Siaya has been a net importer of food, yet the county is surrounded by reliable sources of water that can be used to irrigate farms. The water sources include Lake Victoria, River Yala and River Nzoia.
"It only requires a leader who will make this a priority. We can then have solar panels to cheaply pump and treat water for use. It is a shame that we are not able to provide water for our people," he said.
On agriculture, Gumbo said he will purchase tractors for ploughing farms at a subsidised fee and pump water to all homesteads in Siaya if elected.
Gumbo is not of the idea of building more health facilities, saying that the proximity to a hospital is currently less than five kilometres.
Instead, he wants health workers to be well-remunerated and hospitals to get enough drugs.
"We can pay them their salaries on time and give them all manner of incentives to make them respect and do their work properly."
When the Star visited his home, residents with school fees arrears were there seeking assistance from him.
"As long as education is unavailable to the people who cannot pay for it, then we have the coldest form of knowledge apartheid. Knowledge should be accessible to all who have thirst for it."
Gumbo said anyone aspiring to be president or governor should have economic and financial management knowledge.
"Someone without this training will never understand that failing to pay traders on time is frustrating your own county," he said.
"We can have a policy of efficient and timely payment of contractors for a maximum of 30 days. This way, contractors will pay their suppliers, suppliers will pay those that they owe and the money will circulate to improve the lives of every hard-working taxpayer."