A story is told of a day when a Luo Nyanza politician resisted food for 5 days in retaliation to his arrest and conviction.
The then Rangwe member of Parliament, Shem Ochuodho went on hunger strike for almost a week in late 2000 after being jailed for three years for assault.
Ochuodho was slapped with the jail term after being found guilty of assaulting his rival Philgona Okundi and her supporters in the general elections held 3 years earlier.
The latter and his four supporters were slapped with a 2-year jail term for the assault and on other one year each for burning her campaign vehicle and destroying a second car.
Immediately after his arrival at the Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu, the MP went on hunger strike after being denied access to his lawyers James Orengo and Enock Magara.
Asked how he was going to handle the situation and his sudden landing in a hostile environment he was not used to, he maintained that he would remain brave and pay the price.
"It is a struggle and we have to keep on the fighting. This is part of the price we have to pay and you must remain brave and strong," he told the Nation on 13 October 2000.
Ochuodho had gone away to win the seat on the National Development Party (NDP) after beating Mrs Okundi who was vying on the KANU ticket in the 1997 general elections.
The MP and his co-accused were later released on Shs 100, 000 bond with two sureties of a similar amount.
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