By Manuel Odeny
All political eyes in Kenya will trail Nyamira governor Amos Nyaribo as voters in Nyamaiya ward are gearing up for a by-election.
Nyaribo was recently elected as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance, an outfit linked to former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i during a National Delegates Convention at Luke Hotel, Nairobi.
Nyaribo, a man with proverbial nine lives, has survived an impeachment motion, petition and demonstration by Gen Z demonstrators and have a tumultuous tenure as Deputy Governor under the late Nyamira governor John Nyagarama.
Already the ward has seen early campaigns in a by-election coming months after the death of Nyamaiya MCA Elijah Osiemo in a road accident on August 7, he elected on UPA in last general elections.
He was the leader of majority in the county assembly after Nyaribo’s party outclassed Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in his Nyanza backyard.
He also outclassed President William Ruto with his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) juggernaut which took him to State House.
Already Nyaribo’s party has picked a candidate the late MCA’s brother Chris Osiemo and his men led by UPA nominated MCA Jeriah Nyakang’i and UPA Party youth leader Kepha Moenga starting grassroots campaigns.
“We are sure Chris will follow in the footsteps of his late brother who had great ambitions for the people of Nyamaiya ward. That is why we want to call all of you to support him when the time comes so that he can achieve what his brother had in mind,” Nyakang’i said as quoted by The Star newspaper.
Already Nyaribo has also called on Nyamaiya voters to support his candidate.
“This ward had given us a young and visionary leader, whose politics was influential and development-oriented. Let us support his brother for the better of the ward since I know what he can do in matters of development and politics,” Nyaribo said.
Those said to be ready to spearhead the campaigns are Nyambega Gisesa (Rigoma MCA) as chairperson of the party and Jacob Bagaka UPA secretary general.
Nyaribo’s 9 lives political
READ MORE: COMPLETE LIST: 2022-27 Names, Parties Of Nyamira 4 MPs, Governor, Woman Rep And Senator
As Generation Z demonstrations brought Kenya into a standstill, Nyaribo was the only governor in six Nyanza counties to receive a petition with 18 accusations against his administration.
In a thinly veiled attack on leaders sponsoring early political campaigns before next general elections, Nyaribo singled out former Borabu MP Ben Momanyi.
In a petition pushed by Edward Machuki had a total of 18 points and before the demos filtered off across the country, had threated daily demos against Nyaribo’s administration.
The Gen-Z accused the Nyaribo government of being riddled with rampant corruption, nepotism and clanism.
Last week, Nyaribo toured Keroka Municipality which is outside Nyamira town in a show of might.
On February the Nyamira High Court quashed an election petition challenging Nyaribo’s victory after Justice Kimondo Kanyi ruled in that a voter, Dennis Ayiera did not prove that the election was not conducted freely, fairly and according to the Constitution.
The Court also absolved Nyaribo from the blame that he used Leonard Mogaru, a public servant as his chief agent, ruling that the petitioner failed to proof the claims of corruption beyond reasonable doubt.
READ MORE: The only Nyanza governor to receive petition from GenZ demonstrators makes first public appearance
The petition was filed on September 7, 2022 to challenge Nyaribo’s win after he floored his closest challenger Walter Nyambati of United democratic Alliance (UDA) by 32, 809 votes.
Nyaribo was announced winner with 82,090 votes against Nyambati’s 49, 281.
Nyaribo thanked God after the win, but blamed his political detractors.
As a man used to fighting big parties, Nyaribo also had a standoff with ODM on picking a majority leader for the assembly after Osiemo’s death which he prevailed.
Late last year with the election petition in court, Nyaribo’s UPA party had to whip its members to help shoot down an impeachment motion making him survive for another six months before the motion can legally be re-introduced.
The party through Jacob Bagaka the secretary general warned that MCAs who will support the motion risked having their ‘membership terminated’.
The move saw only 16 MCAs of the 28 that had appended their signatures to the motion fronted by Esise ward representative Josiah Mang’era voted in favour.
The governor who is also the leader of the UPA party had 18 MCAs vote against the motion, handing him a lifeline after weeks of heavy political maneuvers and anxiety.
The motion needed the support of 23 MCAs to sail through, being the two-thirds threshold of a total of 20 elected and 15 nominated MCAs.
Nyaribo faced 12 charges in a 19-page motion tabled in the Assembly which accused him of among other things, flagging off empty containers disguised as medical supplies, illegal recruitment of staff and disobeying court orders.
Nyaribo political tiff with late Nyagarama
Nyaribo, a chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce degree worked in Government and non-State organizations in senior managerial positions.
Nyaribo, then Deputy Governor, was sworn in as governor after the death of former John Nyagarama in 2020 after they were first elected in 2013 and had a relationship full of friction.
Between 2013-2017 elections Nyaribo was the voice of opposition against his own boss and planned to vie against Nyagarama on an Amani National Congress (ANC) ticket.
He changed his mind even after submitting his papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in 2017 and picked his DG post.
The two then entered into an agreement to run under a Memorandum of Understanding that made it possible for them to run as Governor and deputy governor respectively and share the county in a 50-50 basis.
Nyagarama, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party candidate won by 63,000 votes but refused to honor the MoU sparking off another round of bad blood which ran over when he was elected as some staff antagonized him.
