With Ugenya MP David Ochieng setting his eyes on the Siaya gubernatorial race, Ugenya Constituency politics have gone to factory reset with the usual cutthroat, closely-contested tradition.
The key players this time are ex-MP Chris Karan, Businessman Roger Sagana, ODM Party stalwart Daniel Odhiambo and newcomer Charles Sind.
Odhiambo was the run-up to David Ochieng in the last election but the fact that he was defeated with all the advantage of the six-piece voting-pattern-wave behind him makes him decidedly a weaker candidate.
The real challenge will be seen from how Christopher Karan and Roger Sagana handle their bases. In the 2019 by-election Ochieng narrowly defeated Chris Karan and the latter is expected to have learnt from experience and could launch a major comeback.
Ex-Ugenya MP Christopher Karan has had a chequered political career ever since he was charged with forgery.
Although ex-Ugenya MP Chris Karan is a household name in the region’s politics, it’s Roger Otieno Sagana who drives a fanatic political base and could easily pull a surprise.
Sagana has effectively pulled the Gen Z to his camp and is currently making serious inroads into the grassroots voter base.
The politics of the region are, however, dictated by clanism with the larger clan always at loggerheads with two other sub-clans.
Ugenya Constituency has 69,027 voters.
In the 2022 General Election David Ochieng of MDG Party beat Daniel Odhiambo of ODM Party 25,520 to 22,828 votes.
If any of the frontrunners vies on an MDG Party ticket it will be an advantage as the politics of continuity gains traction in the region.
Meanwhile, David Ochieng’s candidature for Governorship is a State project doomed to fail.
Ochieng might be a party leader and a two-term Ugenya legislator but he lacks the universal political appeal and charisma across the rest of Siaya County. Engineer Nicholas Odero Gumbo, from his party, would be a more credible bet.
Since he comes from Ugenya and runs his own party Ochieng might have allowed himself to be used to unseat governor Orengo, a project which could boomerang and severely impact his future political career.
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