•They are Edward Ajwang’, George Abwajo, Faustine Omondi, Helen Apiyo, Catherine Achieng, Isaac Oburu and Eunice Akinyi.
•Omondi and Achieng are seeking the seat on the DAP-K party while the other candidates will battle it out for the ODM ticket on April 19.
@alalmaurice
Market Milimani ward in Kisumu has become one of the most contested seat after attracting seven aspirants who are seeking to unseat the incumbent Seth Ochieng.
Ochieng will defend his seat on the ODM ticket.
He is the Kisumu Central subcounty ODM party chairman.
Those eying the seat are taking no chance in the vote hunt ahead of ODM nominations in two weeks.
The aspirants have intensified campaigns to popularise their bids. A majority have embarked on door-door campaigns while others focus on strategic meetings to woo voters.
They are Edward Ajwang’, George Abwajo, Faustine Omondi, Helen Apiyo, Catherine Achieng, Isaac Oburu and Eunice Akinyi.
Omondi and Achieng are seeking the seat on the DAP-K party while the other candidates will battle it out for the ODM ticket on April 19.
On Tuesday, Ajwang' launched his bid and outlined his eight-point agenda at the ODM offices in Kisumu.
Top on his agenda, Ajwang’ outlined education, health, security, enterprise development, innovation, infrastructure, unemployment and tackling the street children menace.
Ajwang' plans to ensure all children from poor backgrounds attend school through the inclusive and equal allocation of bursary without any discrimination.
He pledged to improve infrastructure through collaboration, especially on the drainage systems, security where businesses thrive through empowering the community.
Ajwang’ promised to work closely with the county government to improve healthcare provision for easy access to residents.
The aspirant, a business administration graduate, seeks to champion innovation to spur economic growth and give the youth a chance to exploit their skills and talents to improve their living standards.
In tackling unemployment, Ajwang' will focus on initiating empowerment initiatives to harness the enormous human resources of the youth to make them economically and financially empowered.
To realise the eight-point agenda, Ajwang said he will initiate transformative leadership and prudent use of public resources.
“My vision and conviction are to serve you because I am going to be your servant,” he said.
The politician said the people deserve a leader who listens and responds positively to their needs.
“I know many of you mistrust politicians and almost detest politics, it is not your fault, you’ve been lied to so many times,” Ajwang’ said.
He called on supporters to choose wisely during the ODM primaries to help secure the future of the ward.
Ajwang’ said elections are a clear manifestation of the ideals that all parties stand for and which should not be used to draw irrelevant wedges and pit competitors against each other.
“Even those who will lose in the nominations or general election will be lauded as much as winning. We must be clear in our minds as to why we are seeking leadership,” he said.
The incumbent, however, expressed confidence that he will retain his seat based on his development track record, especially on bursary allocation to bright needy students and development.
He also banks on the fact that he has been championing the interests of traders who now have been relocated to alternative spaces.
Ochieng, who is one of the most vocal debaters in the assembly, said his ward is the most developed in the county and attributed this to collaboration with the county and national governments.
The MCA said he will mount a well-structured campaign based on ideologies to retain his seat.
“Every aspirant is welcomed to sell their policies to the people. Let people judge us based on development track record and policies,” Ochieng said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris