'I will not back Nyong'o!' Ken Obura insists he's in Kisumu governor race with or without ODM ticket

Former EAC Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Ken Obura now claims that there have been no consensus talks held between himself and incumbent Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o ahead of the ODM party primaries in the lakeside county on April 19, 2022.

Obura, who is seeking the ODM ticket in the Kisumu governorship race, made the sentiments after the party on Friday released a circular reaffirming that the exercise will only be conducted for the positions of MCA, Senate, Woman Representative and four MP seats.

The statement notably omitted the Kisumu governorship seat from the exercise, in what many opine to mean that ODM will likely hand a direct nomination ticket to incumbent county boss Prof. Nyong’o.

This, according to Obura and team, would be a gross misstep as he is reportedly the most popular candidate in the region going by an opinion poll he said was conducted by the party recently.

While addressing the media on Saturday, Obura underlined that he would only tolerate the idea of consensus talks with Nyong’o, if the incumbent governor agrees to step down and back his bid, and not vice versa.

Obura was speaking alongside Nyong'o's predecessor Jack Ranguma, Kisumu Senator Fred Outa and former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Onyango Oloo, who in February shelved their governorship bids to back him at the polls.  

“They are peddling a lot of rumours out there that there is consensus between myself and Nyong’o.  The only consensus between myself and the governor is that he should agree to step down and support my Kisumu governorship bid,” said Obura. 

“We are still waiting because ODM has not communicated which one of us is the candidate.  Going by the rules the party has chosen, that of the scientific opinion polls, I should be the candidate.” 

On his part, Oloo urged ODM to stay true to its words and hand the nomination certificate to the most popular candidate, who he claims is Obura.

This, he says, will enable them - Obura’s camp - to fast track their campaign and also focus on drumming up support for ODM leader Raila Odinga’s presidential bid in the region. 

“We urge the party to do what is right which is to give Obura the nomination certificate. We will then be ready to roll out our campaign which we will also intertwine with the presidential campaign,” said Oloo. 

Oloo added that should Nyong’o secure the ODM ticket, then their alliance will still go ahead and field a candidate to contest for Kisumu governorship at the August polls, giving a not-so-subtle hint at going the independent route or decamping to another party.

“In the very unlikely event that our candidate does not get the position, we will still field a candidate to contest with Nyong’o in August. We will not be part to any consensus that produces Nyong’o as Kisumu’s governorship candidate,” he said.