26 September 2008
Nairobi — ODM weathered internal dissent to retain the Bomet and Sotik parliamentary seats.
The elections, seen as the latest test for Prime Minister Raila Odinga's ability to keep the party united, saw Dr Joyce Laboso win the Sotik seat left vacant by her sister, Lorna, who died in a plane crash in June.
In Bomet, Mrs Beatrice Kones, the first wife of former Roads minister Kipkalya Kones, won the seat left vacant by her husband, who was killed in the same crash.
The party's double victory was attributed to ODM's popularity in the Rift Valley, combined with sympathy votes from constituents still mourning the loss of their leaders, plus the personalities of Mr Odinga and Agriculture minister William Ruto, who both campaigned for the ODM candidates.
Mrs Kones emerged victorious in the Thursday poll after getting 30,210 votes against her closest rival and former area MP, Mr Nick Salat of Kanu, who received 15,015 votes.
Dr Laboso received 24,267 votes to beat her closest challenger Alexander Sitienei's 13,973.
Mrs Kones in her victory speech commended the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) for the orderly manner in which it conducted the polls, saying the results reflected the will of the people.
"I will now take this opportunity to start from where my husband left on roads, education and the overall infrastructure of our constituency," she said.
Dr Laboso thanked voters and the ODM for having given her the mandate to take over from her sister, Lorna.
"I want to thank you because you still want Lorna's dream completed and I pledge that I will change the face of Sotik," she said.
ODM also scooped three out of five civic seats contested around the country on Thursday. It took seats in Rachuonyo, Bondo and Mogotio.
The Democratic Party of Kenya won one in Nithi while the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy in Kenya bagged a seat in Kakamega.
The ODM victory might also have been boosted by opposition to the Party of National Unity and former ruling party Kanu's dwindling fortunes in the province.
Its candidates performed dismally, getting fewer than 1,000 votes in both constituencies.
Sway the voters
In addition, the change of tack by Mr Odinga on the Mau Forest issue and Mr Ruto's promise that no one will be removed from the forest before being compensated helped to sway the voters.
Although Mr Odinga has been vocal about removing people who have encroached on the forest, when addressing campaign rallies in the two constituencies last week, he said he was not going to wrong the community because it had backed him in the last elections.
Mr Ruto attributed the double victory to how ODM leaders explained the contentious issues of Mau Forest and party matters to the people.
He said: "We explained how the issues will be handled and the public believes in us to sort out the problems... those opposed to us have had their say but we have had our way."
Mr Ruto said the people in South Rift trusted the political leaders to resolve the Mau Forest problem and party issues amicably.
A section of Rift Valley leaders said the victory was a vote of confidence in Mr Odinga's leadership of the party. They included ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, and MPs Musa Sirma, Franklin Bett and Julius Kones.
Said Mr Kosgey: "ODM is the popular party in Rift Valley and when we nominated our candidates it was not a question of winning, but by what margin."
The Industrialisation minister said the fact that some ODM MPs such as Chepalungu's Isaac Ruto campaigned for UDM candidates and lost reinforced the view that people believed in the party and its leadership.
Mr Sirma argued the fact that ODM won the two seats in spite of the pressure revolving around the Mau eviction issue and "cheap discontent among MPs who want to be ministers" indicated it had a big following.
However, he said there was a strong element of sympathy because of the tragic manner in which Mr Kones and Ms Laboso had died.
Nonetheless, the simmering discontent among some leaders in the South Rift became evident with outcome of the elections -- and the impending evictions from Mau Forest is foremost.
The controversial evictions to save the country's water catchment area is being spearheaded by Mr Odinga.
They have also been grumbling that Mr Odinga gave them a raw deal in Cabinet appointments in spite of the region having voted for him overwhelmingly.
The region with nine MPs had one Cabinet minister -- Mr Kones Â-- and two assistant ministers; Ms Laboso and Belgut's Charles Keter. Eyes are now set on the next appointments and the MPs will be waiting with bated breath to see who Mr Odinga will elevate to the Cabinet.
It is the same suspense -- by leaving the positions formerly held by Kones and Laboso vacant -- that may have helped ODM to win the seats.
And even the current debate on who will be made the ODM deputy leader -- a race between Mr Ruto and deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi -- may have been cast aside by residents to vote for the party.
The Rift Valley leaders want their own, Mr Ruto, while Mr Mudavadi is seen as the obvious choice by virtue of his position and backing from Western and Nyanza leaders.
The campaign for the post is expected to be played out in Kakamega today during Mr Mudavadi's homecoming party, where he will be made a Luhya elder.
Although some leaders believe Mr Odinga's supremacy is overwhelming in Rift Valley, others thought it was waning.
Badly trounced
Those who thought ODM's stranglehold on the region was declining, like Mr Isaac Ruto who campaigned for UDM in the by-election, pointed to the significant improvement by some other candidates who were badly trounced in 2007, but improved their positions on Thursday.
Konoin MP Julius Kones, said the victory was based on sympathy and that ODM has suffered a dent in the region.
"The win by female candidates in both Sotik and Bomet was also an indication that there was a wave tilting towards women leaders in the Kipsigis region," he said.
Dr Kones thought the party's popularity in the Kipsigis region was waning as a result of the improved performance of the runners-up. He said the Mau evictions remained a thorny issue.
Reports by David Mugonyi, Patrick Mayoyo, Daniel Otieno, Sollo Kiragu and Geoffrey Rono
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