Raila heckling was planned, says Nyong'o

 Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has apologised for Monday's heckling of ODM leader Raila Odinga in Ombeyi, Muhoroni, saying it was planned.

Raila led a team of three Cabinet Secretaries and county leaders to speak to residents about the government's plans to build an industrial park in the area.

The team ran into a hostile crowd that disrupted Raila's speech. They demanded compensation before the project starts.

In a press statement from the Governors’ Press Unit on Tuesday, Nyong'o said the people of Muhoroni and Kisumu county as a whole were committed to development.

He said it was regrettable that a small band of engineered “naysayers” deliberately decided to resist the development plan "purely for political mileage."

'They decided to embarrass the county guests. For this, I apologise,” Nyong'o said.

He said the county government will not be deterred from changing Kisumu's economy for the better "to please a few visionless people."

Nyong'o did not attend the event 'due to a pre-arranged trip to Denmark to negotiate the second phase of the Danish/Kenyan partnership on economy programmes involving counties."

Some of the hecklers carried placards ridiculing Raila's handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Residents said they were opposed to the project because there was no public participation.

Their spokesman Richard Odek said the land in question was held in trust of the community by the defunct County Council of Ahero. Their attempts to subdivide the land have failed.

They now want the land reverted to the community and title deeds issued.

Raila criticised the hecklers, saying some people were out to embarrass him and his entourage.

“The government is on the right track. The President himself is very much behind this project and he says he wants to come here in August to do the launching of this project formally and we will invite President Museveni (Uganda) and also President Tshisekedi of DRC,” Raila said.

 “The matter of land and compensation is a small issue that can be solved. If you don’t want the project, it will be taken elsewhere. How can I bring visitors here and you carry placards? Do you want to embarrass me?” Raila asked the crowd.

The former PM was accompanied by  Cabinet Secretaries James Macharia (Transport), Peter Munya (Industrialisation) and John Munyes (Petroleum and Mining).

Raila later said the hecklers were organised. He downplayed the incident as “minor." He said the land belongs to the County Government of Kisumu which has a genuine title deed.

“There will always be those kinds of characters around….But I really I want to urge the people to embrace development. We cannot develop without land. As I mentioned to the people, land is useless unless there is capital to develop it. To me I would ignore that particular minor incident,” he said.

Raila noted that the set up of an industrial park in Kisumu will alleviate poverty by providing employment opportunities.

Edited by p. Obuya