Is Gumbo mulling return to Rarieda politics?

Former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo has lambasted the current area MP Otiende Amolo over what he termed as the latter's myopic approach to matters education.

Gumbo was the area MP from 2007 to 2017, when he vacated the seat to vie for the Siaya governor position.

With Gumbo not defending his parliamentary seat in 2017, Otiende, whom he had defeated in 2007, sailed to Parliament, and is now serving his second term.

Gumbo unsuccessfully vied for the governor seat twice—in 2017 and 2022.

But now Gumbo is aggrieved that his successor has deliberately refused to develop some secondary schools that he started during his tenure.

"It is very annoying. I started over 17 schools in this constituency. Nearly all of them are in tatters including the one near my home.

He has never given any student in them a single bursary. That money is not Otiende's money, it belongs to the people of Rarieda," Gumbo said.

Also, Gumbo has accused Otiende of not using the National Government -Constituency Development Fund to improve the infrastructure in those institutions.

However, the incumbent has refuted the claims saying all the schools receive equitable allocations.

Gumbo claimed as a result of Otiende's neglect, the said schools have experienced a hemorrhage of student numbers and dropped in performance.

The schools are Memba, Kawuondi, Rambira, Wayaga and Ndigwa secondary, among others, Gumbo said.

"Kawuondi Secondary School had over 500 students when I was the area MP, now it has less than 70. As MP, I made Ndigwa Secondary School a centre of excellence and left it with 2,000 students, now it has less than 400," Gumbo claimed.

He advised the incumbent not to kill the future of the children just because he does not like the person who started the schools.

Meanwhile, he dared Otiende to face him politically instead of allegedly ruining the future of the children to upset him (Gumbo).

"I have kept quiet but he keeps provoking me by attacking the projects I started. It is stupid and backward and extremely primitive," he said.

Gumbo linked the bad blood between him and Otiende to the 2007 duel, reminding the incumbent MP to get over it for it is nearly 20 years down the line.

He derided Otiende, saying he only made it to Bunge thanks to his (Gumbo's) decision to go for the governor's seat in 2017.

If he keeps provoking me I will stop looking for any other seat to make sure we kick him out of Rarieda, Gumbo warned.

In the meantime, he told Otiende that his doors are open and that he should find it necessary to approach and explain to him why he (Otiende) has a problem with the education projects that he initiated.

Gumbo was speaking when he led a fundraiser for a sacco consisting of 25 groups at Kagwa Primary School.

The harambee raised Sh500,000.

Some 127 students also received education bursaries worth Sh1 million for the 2024 academic year, courtesy of Gumbo's Resa Foundation.

Resa Foundation is 27-years-old, having been started in 1996.

The foundation has been issuing bursaries each year ever since.

With the issuance of Resa bursaries, the former MP urged parents and guardians not to neglect their parental duties to secure the future of the beneficiaries.

"Parents must realise that parenting is a lifetime engagement and paying school fees does not constitute the whole spectrum of parenting," he said.

Good samaritans, Gumbo remarked, do not give the bursaries out of abundance, but extreme sacrifice.

Responding to the accusations, MP Otiende said all the schools in Rarieda have been receiving equitable NG-CDF allocations.

"Those are idiotic accusations. All the schools have been equitably allocated CDF, especially the ones mentioned," Otiende told The Star.

He explained that all the details to that regard public funds use are available.

"If it were true, the respective boards would have complained," he added.

MP Otiende equally wants Gumbo to face him.

"If he wants to face me, let him come without false and idiotic allegations," Otiende said.