Raila's allies, Okoth's brother battle for Kibra seat

Three days after the cremation of Kibra MP Ken Okoth the race to succeed him is on.

By last evening seven names had been floated as possible candidates for the seat left vacant by Okoth who succumbed to colorectal cancer late last month.

His younger brother Imran Okoth has emerged as the front-runner.

Others are Raila’s former aides Eliud Owallo who unsuccessfully challenged Okoth for the ODM nomination in the last election and Ketta Onyango who was responsible for CDF when Raila was Langata MP  as well as former Sarang’ombe MCA Pius K’Otieno.

There was also word that former Kasarani MP Elizabeth Ongoro, a well-known politician in Nairobi, is interested in the seat alongside Irshad Sumra who was defeated in Embakasi South early this year.

Global humanitarian award winner Kennedy Odede is also said to be eyeing the seat and there are those who think Edwin Sifuna, the ODM secretary general, may throw his heart in.

Okoth’s family has unanimously endorsed Imran, giving him a bargaining advantage with Raila as he seeks to carry on from where his brother left.

ODM national chairman John Mbadi speaking to the Star on telephone said the relevant party organ will deliberate on Okoth’s family request and decide whether they will issue a direct nomination or subject all interested aspirants to a poll.

“That is a decision that the party will take at the appropriate time. National Executive Council is the one mandated to make the decision. I will chair NEC at the appropriate time and discuss the way forward and give directions on what to do,” said the Suba South MP.

If ODM hands Imran a ticket, it will not be the first time Raila's party would have handed a nomination certificate to an immediate family member.

The second-largest party in Parliament handed Joyce Laboso a ticket after the death of her sister Lorna to run for the Sotik seat.  The party gave Moses Kajwang’ a ticket to replace his brother Otieno Kajwang’, while Senator Juma Boy Junior replaced his father Juma Boy in Kwale.

Working to Imran’s advantage is the fact that he has been the "ears and eyes" of his brother on the ground for nearly three years when the late MP was unwell and especially when he sought treatment outside the country.

Imran served as Okoth’s personal assistant and was instrumental in bringing to fruition construction of new schools started by the late MP.

Among them is Mbagathi High School which was built from scratch using Kibra Constituency Development Funds (CDF).

Okoth’s family has appealed to ODM leader Raila Odinga to consider a member of the late MP's family to take over for the remaining three years.

Raila holds a lot of sway on who would become the next MP of the slum constituency given that Kibra is among ODM’s foremost political bedrocks.

The ODM leader was the area’s lawmaker for over two decades.

Speaking to the Star, Okoth’s maternal nephew Elvis Oluoch confirmed the family is considering sending emissaries to the ODM boss and party leadership to have him endorse a member of the family to ensure the seat remains in the family.

“We want to appeal to Raila to see if he can give one of the family members that opportunity to take care of the next three years. Already we have one person in mind, Imran. He was the personal assistant to Ken and was the one taking care of everything when Ken was sick for almost three years. So we thought he is the right person to do that because he knew every plan Ken had concerning Kibra,” Oluoch said.

Owallo who served as Raila’s campaign manager fell out with his former boss in 2017 and accused him of having "parochial political interests” in Kibra.

"As a professional, I do not want to subject myself to an environment where my fate will be subject to the level of sycophancy I portray to Raila, both now and in the foreseeable future," he vowed after being beaten by Okoth in ODM primaries.

Yesterday, Owallo did not respond to our calls or texts on whether he plans to make a comeback through a different political party.

Ketta, on the other hand, served as trustee director at the Raila Odinga Centre.

But Sifuna who was the family lawyer quickly dismissed Oluoch as a “busybody” and not the official family spokesperson as claimed.

“Who is the family spokesperson’ why are you looking at busybodies?” posed Sifuna.

Sifuna however declined to be dragged into a discussion on whether he will be contesting the seat or not.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja said during Okoth’s memorial service at Moi Girls High School last week he will speak to President Uhuru Kenyatta so that they support ODM’s candidate.

“Jubilee will not field a candidate in the Kibra by-election. I will personally campaign for an ODM candidate for the seat,” Sakaja said.

Another candidate who has confirmed vying is ex-Sarang’ombe MCA Pius K’Otieno.

K’Otieno is banking on his ground networks established during the period he served as a representative to the Nairobi City assembly to make a political comeback.

 “I am ready and capable to succeed Okoth. I advocate and advance the constitutional function of that office. I will sustain the good work that was initiated by the late MP and take it a notch higher. I will not only focus on providing education to the needy but I will ensure the youths get skills and knowledge that can sustain the economy. Above all, I will ensure that there is serious oversight of the executive,” he said on phone.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi is this week expected to issue writs declaring Kibra parliamentary seat vacant and set the stage for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to organise a by-election.

Immediately after the declaration of the seat vacant and the writs, IEBC will announce the dates of the by-election.

Odede has previously been involved in slum upgrading programmes through his Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) that fights poverty and promotes gender empowerment in the slums.