Property worth millions razed in Rodi Kopany

By James Omoro

HOMA BAY, KENYA: Property worth Sh12 million was destroyed following riots in Rodi Kopany trading center in Homa Bay District.

The incident started when supporters of one ODM parliamentary aspirant in the newly created Homa Bay Town Constituency took to the streets over election irregularity in which they alleged that their candidate of choice won the nomination but was denied the party certificate.

The violence which broke out in the evening occurred when supporters of Peter Opondo Kaluma complained over allegations that immediate former Rangwe Mp Martin Ogindo was awarded ODM nomination certificate yet he never won the election.

The inferno was caused by explosion of petrol oil from a motorbike which spilt on fire in one of the shops.

The police officers had used tear gas to control the youth who had become unruly, and one of them rode his motorbike into a plastic utensils shop but unfortunately, fell on fire. This led to a spill of petrol and eventually the motorbike caught fire.

Eyewitness said the fire was being used to prepare meals.

The fire spread to residential houses as the owners watched helplessly from a distance.

The landlord of the houses which were burnt, Fred Ochieng Mbogo, appealed to the Orange Democratic Movement and the Government to compensate him and his tenants for the loss they incurred.

“I am appealing to the Government to compensate me and my tenants for the property lost because none of us was involved in the skirmishes,” he added.

Ochieng expressed worry on how he is going to settle his loans worth Sh1 million which he spent to improve the business.

More than 1,000 youth from the area gathered at Rodi Kopany to protest against the allegation on nomination results.

They started by lighting fire on the road but the Administration Police Officers in Rodi Kopany could not control them.

This prompted the call for GSU and other police officers from Homa Bay town, a few kilometers away.

The police officers had to use teargas in order to control the rowdy and angry mob that blocked the roads leading to Homa Bay, Ndhiwa and Rongo towns.

It is still not clear who won Homa Bay Town Constituency seat after the area nomination Returning Officer Humphrey Angolo nullified the results on Friday morning over claims that the nomination was flawed.

Since then, the Returning Officer ordered that the nomination be repeated but it was not done.

The fire was managed by fire fighters from Homa Bay Municipal Council.

Homa Bay OCPD Francis Kumut told the area residents to be calm and wait for the nomination results instead of resorting to violence.

Kumut confirmed that four young men were arrested and taken to Homa Bay Police Station.

“I call upon the area residents to remain calm because everybody is still waiting for the final nomination results,” Kumut said.