This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
Alego Usonga MP's Re-election Hopes Dwindle Ahead of 2022 Elections ¶
Published on September 19, 2019
Controversial Alego Usonga lawmaker Samuel Atandi is facing tough hurdles in defending his seat in the next general elections due to his unimpressive development track record.
Local ODM party officials project that the vocal parliamentarian could lose his seat to vibrant newcomers in the race who are already crisscrossing the constituency with development promises.
The constituency in Siaya county has never re-elected an MP since the inception of multiparty politics, with former political detainee Otieno Mak'Onyango being the first MP under multipartism on a Ford-Kenya party ticket.
Strategist crowd puller and gifted orator Oloo Aringo later made a return in 1997 on a National Development Party ticket, spoiling the matter for Mak'Onyango.
Aringo did not survive the political wave staged by then youthful flamboyant businessman Sammy Weya who ousted the seasoned politician on a National Rainbow Coalition Party ticket.
However, Weya was later ousted by Edwin Yinda in 2007, who was then defeated by Omondi Muluan in 2013.
Atandi later ousted Muluan in 2017 elections, but his critics paint him as an individual who has focused energy on the Siaya gubernatorial succession politics at the expense of development.
Notably, Otiende Amollo's Rarieda constituency recently saw the launch of the construction of Mahaya Technical Training Institute, a project that was boldly presided over by the Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju courtesy of the handshake between Uhuru and Raila Odinga.
A similar multimillion shilling project was recently launched in the neighboring Ugunja constituency courtesy of the handshake.
Atandi is faced with tough balancing act given that he has been at loggerheads with the local police over cases of assault and this may come to haunt him during campaigns ahead of 2022 general elections.
