Siaya Gubernatorial candidates Gumbo and running-mate Owino tell Sifuna off

Former Police spokesperson Charles Owino has hit out at Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) secretary-general Edwin Sifuna who had earlier claimed Owino and Siaya gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Gumbo were frustrating ODM officials.

Sifuna had on Tuesday, March 29 said the duo might have joined hands long ago but chose to frustrate ODM, on a day the two had defected to United Democratic Movement (UDM).

During the August 9 elections, Gumbo is set to face off with Siaya Senator James Orengo who is poised to clinch the ODM gubernatorial ticket. According to Sifuna, the move was in an attempt to embarrass party leader Raila Odinga in his own backyard.

ODM party Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna during a past press conference Pulse Live Kenya

"These ones must have joined UDM long ago but were hanging around to just make life hard for ODM," Sifuna told the Nation. Gumbo and Owino said they joined UDM because they felt they stood no chance in ODM.

“Ten years after the start of devolution and Siaya is still behind compared to many other counties and that is the reason I am in the race. Raila is the architect of devolution and as a result his home county must lead," responded Gumbo.

Until his departure, he was the frontrunner for the ODM ticket in party primaries scheduled for April 13.

Siaya County Governor aspirant Nicholas Gumbo and Charles Owino during the official announcement of their bid to run for the governorship on UDM ticket in Siaya on March 28, 2022. [Denish Ochieng, Standard] Pulse Live Kenya

"We are the ones being frustrated by the Orange party because there is no transparency in that party and this has created apathy in all the elections,” he said.

“In the 2013 and 2017 elections, over 43,000 voters did not vote, simply because of the shambolic primaries. Owino and I currently have 70 percent of Siaya County behind us and most of them would not vote if our names miss on the ballot," concluded Gumbo.