[A section of the crowd that attended Gusii rally. The crowd remained unmoved despite heavy rains in the region until Raila Odinga delivered his speech. Photo/Kandia Nabiswa]
Unlike last weekend’s Nakuru’s NASA rally which was periodically interrupted by heavy rains, thousands of NASA’s supporters endured heavy rains to listen to opposition flag bearer Raila Odinga.
Strategically, the Kisii rally was used as a launch to area Governor James Ongwae’s reelection bid and subsequent unveiling of Joash Maangi, who had decamped to Jubilee as his running mate.
And procedurally, Odinga had to speak last among the invited guests with his speech threatened by heavy downpours in the region.
Contrary to the expectations of the organizers, the enthusiastic supporters kept on chanting anti-Jubilee administration slogans as they listed to Mr Odinga who seized the opportunity to poke holes into Jubilee administration.
Earlier, Odinga’s running mate Kalonzo Musyoka had questioned the intention of Jubilee government to discriminate Gusii community IDPs who he said were struggling to reconstruct their lives years after 2007/08 PEV.
Also in attendance were Moses Wetangula, Musalia Mudavadi, Governor Isaac Ruto and tens of local leaders led by Governor Ongwae.
The Gusii community through its leadership resolved to back Odinga’s bid in August and vowed to choose leaders affiliated to NASA coalition.