Nabii Nabwera, nephew of the first MP of Lugari and Kenya’s first ambassador to the US, Mzee Burudi Nabwera, finally won the Lugari Constituency parliamentary seat after 10 years of trials and failures.
Nabwera, who vied on the ODM ticket, garnered 23,159 votes, followed distantly by Isaac Andabwa of DAP-K, who received 11,086 votes, and Alex Atingo of the ANC, who got 6,008 votes in an election that attracted 20 aspirants.
Mr. Nabwera’s election, no doubt, came as a lesson to him and to many upcoming politicians on why one should not give up on their course, having been trounced by his predecessor Ayub Savula in the 2013 and 2017 general elections.
Nabwera even came behind Joseph Lunani (who didn’t feature in the 2022 election) in 2017.
Nabii joined the long list of politicians who, in the 2022 and previous elections, tried a couple of times while failing but eventually made it. But anyone would argue that Nabii might have found it easy sailing through this compared to the previous elections.
His closest opponents, Isaac Andabwa and Alex Atingo, were first-timers and perhaps did not have as much experience and skills in the murky world of politics. They did not, as much as they were ‘political beginners’, match the rigidity and aptness of Savula, who succeeded just on the first attempt.
This was the best opportunity for Nabii to clinch the seat considering that Chekalini Ward had Bryan Liseche, Lugari Ward Isaac Andabwa, and Lumakanda Ward Alex Atingo. The three wards have unanimously worked in the previous elections to deny Nabii the vote in favor of Savula.
One would argue that this time around, Mr. Nabwera won highly in places where his tribespeople, the Tachoni, live.
Another factor that notably and to a large extent contributed to Nabii’s win was the endorsements by both national and regional political bigwigs, including his party leader and the then presidential candidate Raila Odinga, former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya, former Lugari MP Ayub Savula, and ODM Director of Communications Phillip Etale, who shelved his bid to support him.
- The writer is a graduate of Administration and Political Science from Rongo University
Mark Wamwoyo is the legal and administrative officer at the Western Kenya Times. He writes special columns on the political and social affairs of the people of Western Kenya.
