The race for Teso North MP is shaping into a two-horse between incumbent Oku Kaunya and IT expert Lawi Mamai.
Kaunya, Mamai and John Imoite of UDA are the only three contenders who have declared interest in the Teso North seat.
The political arithmetic in the constituency would have been different if former MP Arthur Odera had tried to recapture the seat he lost to Kaunya in 2017.
But Odera’s decision to be the running mate of former Funyula MP Paul Otuoma in the duel to succeed Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong now leaves Kaunya and Mamai as top contenders.
Otuoma, Woman Representative Florence Mutua and Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi will square it out during the ODM primaries next month.
Mamai and Kaunya had been expected to battle it out during the ODM party nominations, but ODM leader Raila Odinga’s open declaration on March 25 when he toured Teso North that he supports Kaunya threw Mamai off-balance.
Raila said he has known Kaunya for long and they have been close friends.
He urged residents to back Kaunya’s bid to represent the border constituency in Parliament for a second term.
The ODM leader’s declaration, however, elicited protests from Mamai’s camp.
Mamai’s supporters said the ODM leader should have played neutral and allowed the two to battle it out in the primaries.
A day after the former PM’s visit, Mamai left ODM and joined DAP-K as he affirmed readiness to battle Kaunya.
With the two leaders now in different parties, both under Azimio la Umoja, the battle line has been drawn.
Both have sizable backing in the constituency.
Residents backing Kaunya’s re-election are campaigning for the MP backed by arguments that he initiated development projects no leader, since Independence, has championed for in the larger Teso region.
Key among these developments is the establishment of the Kenya Medical Training School Teso Campus in Kocholya. The institution was launched by Raila on March 25.
But the MP's critics argue that the lawmaker cannot campaign on the strength of the projects since they were established using Constituency Development Funds money.
Mamai’s supporters argue that Teso North residents have the right to demand projects and it is MP Kaunya’s duty to push for the establishment of such projects on behalf of the people he represents in Parliament.
Edited by A.N
