K’Ombudo Eyes Governor’s Seat in Kisumu County

ang K’Ombudo once Nyakach Member of Parliament and a former Cabinet minister is aspiring for Governor’s seat in Kisumu County.

BY 
SUNDAY, 30 DECEMBER, 2012

Ojwang K’Ombudo once Nyakach MP, interested in governing Kisumu shares his aspirations with

Question: Tell us about yourself? Answer: My name is Ojwang K’Ombudo, a Christian born in Nyakach in 1936. I went to Nduru Primary School before proceeding to Nyabondo High school. Later, I attended St Peter’s Clavers in the 1950s where I graduated as a P3 teacher. I was a beneficiary of Tom Mboya airlifts which took me to the United States. I graduated from Missouri with a Degree in Economics. I later went to Canada in Nova Scotia and graduated with a Bachelor of Law Degree. On arrival home, I went to Kenya School of Law and taught at Kenya Institute of Administration, training potential magistrates and members of the Pro- vincial Administraion.

Later there was an advertisement for the position of Town Clerk at the Kisumu Municipal Council which I applied for and succeeded in 1968. As a clerk I initiated many projects within the municipality among them a number of housing estates which are still there to-date. They include Arina phase 1 to 4, Okore Ogonda, Argwings Kodhek, Tom Mboya Estate,Panya Estate, and Shauri Moyo Primary School. I am one of the people who lobbied for the establishment of the Tom labour college since the late Tom Mboya had educated a lot about labour issue through the Federation of Kenya Labour which came to be known later as the Central Organisation of Trade Unions. There were concerted efforts by Juma Boy to take the facility to Mombasa and that is why it has some semblance of Coastal architecture.

Q. What will your agenda be if elected first governor of Kisumu County?
A. Kisumu is a sinking town. There are no industries and youths have no jobs. Industries such as Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) and Kenya Breweries Plant now closed with 10,000 employees out of jobs, need reviving. Services at Kisumu Municipal Council are pathetic.

Water given to residents has chlorina- tion carried out manually. I will make sure pre-primary schools are estab- lished with more teachers employed in existing schools.

Kisumu used to have a lot of water spots which I will ensure are revived for tourism purposes. Kisumu and its environs depend on imported foods which can be home grown. Vast idle lands should be irrigated to facilitate this. More industries should be es- tablished in peri-urban areas through modern planning.

Q: Is it right for the Council to force peri-urban dwellers to pay arrears for land-rates accrued over time?
A: It is wrong as most parcels of land in peri-urban areas such as Kajulu, Obunga, Manyatta, and Kondele is free-hold ancestral, not lease-hold areas. The council should have come up with a valuation role before trans- actions are made.

A court should be established to look into any objections. Valuers are then sent to the ground to ensure quality. What officers are doing is completely illegal as they are on a looting spree. Unfortunately, the current Constitu- tion will gradually phase off Chief officers who are involved in the exercise by next year. My advice to the local residents is to demand things be put in order next year.

Q: Do you have faith in ODM nom- inations in the past marred with controversy?
A: Yes we have been assured nomi- nations will be free and fair, so let’s hope the promise will be kept.