Nyamira Governor John Nyagarama allegedly 'hijacked' Cord leader Raila Odinga’s visit to Nyamira contrary to the programme that had been penned down by the organisers.
Mr Nyagarama who was reportedly sidelined by the organising committee, took the matter into his own hands and by planning a parallel venue for the former Premier contrary to the one that had been prepared by Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire and his West Mugirango counterpart James Gesami who has also announced his gubernatorial interest.
According to an insider privy to Governor’s secret operations, Mr Nyagarama hired hundreds of youths to make the ground ‘look’ favourable for him during Mr Odinga’s tour.
“The Governor wasn’t part of the organising committee and had complained of being sidelined by Mr Bosire and Gesami whom he doesn’t enjoy cordial relationship with. He decided to hijack the event by hiring youths to show his political strength,” said the source.
“He changed the venue of Raila’s landing from Nyamira Primary School to Ekerenyo and later on even attempted to ensure Odinga proceeded to Nyamaiya stadium where he had organised a parallel meeting contrary to county assembly grounds,” added the source.
“The Governor somehow managed because the Nyamaiya rally was not in the itinerary of Mr Odinga and that was a clear score for him,” said the source.
When contacted, Mr Gesami who was the day’s master of ceremony accused Nyagarama of planning a parallel gathering without involving organisers.
“We only planned a big rally in the assembly and the Nyamaiya meeting was a creation of Mr Nyagarama. It is sad that someone can panic and breach our mode of operation,” he said.
Mr Odinga, however, ended up addressing both the assembly grounds meeting and later on proceeded to Nyamaiya stadium where he addressed thousands of his supporters.
Nyagarama could not be reached for immediate comment since he could neither pick calls nor respond to text messages from this writer by the time of filing this story.