By N.A Alberto
Kisii County UDA Leaders, aspirants and members are up in arms demanding the removal of County UDA Coordinator whom they accuse of high handedness,lack of integrity and common decency.
The embattled Kisii County Interim Coordinator Mr. Samwel Omwando who defected from ODM less than a year a go, where he was County Chairman is being accused of a number of Improper dealings within the UDA Party.
Members claim he wasn’t properly vetted and nominated,and that those who proposed him including the current Kisii County Deputy Governor Joash Maangi who is also a gubernatorial aspirant and an aide of The Deputy President Mr.Anthony Kibagendi did not consult leaders from the county.
The members claim that Omwando has brought with him his terrible tendencies of impunity that he practiced in ODM of appointing constituency and ward coordinators without involving leaders/stakeholders from the said electoral areas.
“Even after the Party Leader and Secretary General clearly told Mr.Omwando not to appoint anyone as Constituency or ward coordinator unless in consultation with leaders from those areas,he went ahead and nominated his friends and relatives to be coordinators,which is an act of impunity” one of the leaders James Ongeri claimed.
Another member Flex Flex through his Facebook post claimed that Mr.Omwando literally sold ODM nominations to candidates in the year 2017,”each MCA aspirant paid him 1Million shillings while MCAs paid him 5Million shillings and that is the same thing he intends to do here in UDA but we won’t allow him”
Through social media posts respected UDA members and aspirants claimed that recently The Coordinator as invited to a coordinators meeting,where he took with him his wife who pretended to be the Kitutu Chache North coordinator, his sister inlaw (Margaret) who was a candidate in the just concluded Bonchari byelection and scored 140 votes on a Maendeleo chap chap ticket,who posed as the Bonchari coordinator, Margaret’s husband who posed as the South Mugirango coordinator, his driver, who posed as Nyaribari chache coordinator and the most controversial one where he brought the former Nyakoe Ward MCA who lost his seat because he was caught in a lodging with high school girls just before the 2017 elections, Mr. Saka was brought in the Kitutu chache South Coordinator. These coordinators were to draw transport allowances and share part of it with him after the meeting.
The aspirants claim that Mr.Omwando has been unable to inspire confidence and provide leadership while hoarding membership recruitment materials,were it not the recent launch that was spearheaded by Mr. Maangi, Mr.Magara, Mr.Okengo, Madam Rachel Otundo, Mr. Bosire, and madam Fontina Ngare, UDA would be among the last in membership recruitment. It is on realisation that Omwando is incompetent and lazy that leaders from the region mobilized materials and gave them to aspirants and lobby groups that the registration exercise has improved.
Some of the aspirants even claim that so long as Omwando is still the coordinator they would rather run on an alternative Party (PDP) where they know they will not be taken advantage of.
In one of the aspirants forums,they said that Mr.Omwando did not attend an aspirants and leaders forum that was called by the party in Vihiga County and hence those who attended elected one of them Mr. Hezekiel Bosire to be their interim County Coordinator.
Kisii County UDA Leaders, aspirants and members are up in arms demanding the removal of County UDA Coordinator James Omwando whom they accuse of high handedness, lack of integrity and common decency.
The embattled Kisii County Interim Coordinator Mr. Samwel Omwando who defected from ODM less than a year ago, where he was County Chairman is being accused of a number of Improper dealings within the UDA Party.
Members claim he wasn’t properly vetted and nominated. According to sources on the ground, those who proposed him include the current Kisii County Deputy Governor Joash Maangi who is also a gubernatorial aspirant and the aide of the Deputy President Mr. Anthony Kibagendi did not consult leaders from the county.
Members claim that Omwando has brought with him his terrible tendencies of impunity that he practiced in ODM of appointing constituency and ward coordinators without involving leaders/stakeholders from the said electoral areas.
“Even after the Party Leader and Secretary General clearly told Mr. Omwando not to appoint anyone as Constituency or ward coordinator unless in consultation with leaders from those areas, he went ahead and nominated his friends and relatives to be coordinators,which is an act of impunity” said James Ongeri, one of the local leaders.
Another member Flex Flex through his Facebook post claimed that Mr.Omwando literally sold ODM nominations to candidates in the year 2017,”Each MCA aspirant paid him Sh1M while sitting MCAs paid him Sh5M and that is the same thing he intends to do here in UDA but we won’t allow him”
Through social media posts respected UDA members and aspirants claimed that recently the Coordinator invited them to a coordinators meeting, where he took with him his wife who pretended to be the Kitutu Chache North coordinator, his sister inlaw (Margaret) who was a candidate in the just concluded Bonchari byelection and scored 140 votes on a Maendeleo chap chap ticket,who posed as the Bonchari coordinator,Margaret’s husband who posed as the South Mugirango coordinator,his driver,who posed as Nyaribari chache coordinator and the most controversial one where he brought the former Nyakoe Ward MCA who lost his seat because he was caught in a lodging with high school girls just before the 2017 elections, Mr. Saka was brought in the Kitutu chache South Coordinator. These coordinators were to draw transport allowances and share part of it with him after the meeting.
The aspirants claim that Mr. Omwando has been unable to inspire confidence and provide leadership while hoarding membership recruitment materials,were it not the recent launch that was spearheaded by Mr.Maangi,Mr.Magara, Mr. Okengo,Madam Rachel Otundo, Mr. Bosire, and madam Fontina Ngare, UDA would be among the last in membership recruitment.
It is on realisation that Omwando is incompetent and lazy that leaders from the region mobilized materials and gave them to aspirants and lobby groups that the registration exercise has improved.
Some of the aspirants even claim that so long as Omwando is still the coordinator they would rather run on an alternative Party (PDP) where they know they will not be taken advantage of.
In one of the aspirants forums, they said that Mr.Omwando did not attend an aspirants and leaders forum that was called by the party in Vihiga County and hence those who attended elected one of them Mr. Hezekiel Bosire to be their interim County Coordinator.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM