By MN Reporter
Migori governor aspirant Robert Kenedy Okongo seems to be only politician in a crowded August 9 field to have a functional foundation long before joining politics.
The Robert Kenedy Okongo Foundation was started way back in January 2018 after the aspirant had a near death experience through an attack by diabetes and high blood pressure.
“I was from playing golf and I felt strength fatigue, when I was rushed in the hospital I ended up fighting for my life for weeks in Intensive Care Unit, I realised how fleeting life is and saw the need to touch others,” Okong’o told Migori News in a special interview.
What started as a means of educating Kenyans on dangers and need to tackle lifestyle has turned out as a means of transforming and empowering the less fortunate in the vast and cosmopolitan county of Migori.
“We started by educating Kenyans to avoid an attack by diabetics and high blood pressure, but we expanded to offer support for widows and orphans and other vulnerable members of the society,” he said.
The foundation has touched many through payment of bursaries, building homes for widows, acquiring equipment for People with Disability and offering mentorship to youths and business people.
“I never held or harbored any ambition for public office when I started the foundation, I started touching lives long before I joined politics which was less than a year ago,” Okong’o said.
Through the foundation, he said started facing and tried to “defy mounting pressure from the public to vie in vein.”
He asserted: ” I have now been forced to make a decision and move on. I have bowed to the society’s demands and wish. I am running for the position of the Governor of Migori County in the 2022 general election.”
He will face off with Migori senator Ochillo Ayacko, Women Representative Pamela Odhiambo, former Migori MP John Pesa, former Cabinet Minister Dalmas Otieno among others.
Okongo Ja Migori, as he is known has said he have measured up his rivals and will “come up with new and better development ideas and best way of doing politics compared to my rivals under ‘Paro Manyien, Migori Manyien to mana gi Kwe’”
