Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o has retained his seat after trouncing former governor Jack Ranguma and two other contenders in the race.
Nyong’o who was defending the seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket garnered 319,957 votes while Jack Ranguma of Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) got 100,600 votes.
Business lady Awuor Meso (Independent) came a distant third with 3, 383 votes followed by Erick Otieno (Independent) with 2, 705 votes.
Kisumu County Returning Officer Solomon Mudanya handed over the winning certificate to Nyong’o who lauded the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for conducting free and fair elections in the area.
Nyong’o thanked the people of Kisumu for demonstrating confidence in him promising to work closely with other elected leaders in the area to transform the county.
Top on his agenda, he said was to fast track ongoing projects at the same time make the revamped port of Kisumu work to create job opportunities.
“When I came in, I wanted to operationalise the port but I had no idea how to go about it. I thank the national government for investing in the port and the shipyard,” he said.
The investments, he added will transform Kisumu into a bustling port city abound with investment opportunities.
Nyong’o who faced fierce opposition from former Governor Jack Ranguma, outgoing Senator Fred Outa and former Kisumu Speaker Onyango Oloo who joined hands to oust him, said the declaration of results marked the end of politicking to pave the way for development.
“To my opponents it is now over. Let us meet in another contest,” he said. He added that he will retire from active politics at the end of this term.
In other results, Senior Council (SC) Prof Tom Ojienda is the new Kisumu Senator. Ojienda who was running on an ODM ticket trounced his sole competitor Denis Kundi of Jubillee to clinch the seat.
He garnered 413,121 votes against Denis Kundi’s 15, 595. The senator elect said his focus was to work closely with the county governor to unlock Kisumu’s great potential.
As Senator, he said his duty will be to ensure Kisumu gets adequate resources to fund development projects. He pointed out the port and shipyard which he said must be supported to turn around the economy of the area.
In the Woman Representative race, Ruth Odinga of ODM beat three other candidates in the race to clinch the seat. Odinga garnered 304,293 votes followed by Valentine Adhiambo of MDG with 80, 117 votes.
Rose Auma Kisia who was running as an Independent candidate garnered 36, 692 votes while United Democratic Alliance (UDA)’s Philgona Atieno managed 7,825 votes.
In her acceptance speech, Odinga vowed to use her office to empower Kisumu women economically. “I want to thank you for the overwhelming support and promise to work together with other leaders to turn around the lives of our women,” he said.
By Chris Mahandara
