Which Way Nyanza?

A weekend of political violence in Homa Bay County set the tone for this edition of Jeff Koinange Live. On the bench were presidential aspirant and former Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo of the People's Prosperity Party, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi and Uriri MP Mark Nyamita.

Owalo called the scenes embarrassing and politically unpalatable more than three decades into multiparty politics. He cited the constitutional freedoms of association, assembly and movement, and said competitors must be allowed to sell their agenda so voters have real choices. Using hooligans to intimidate rivals, he said, is not the Kenya we want.

Nyamita, a supporter of President Ruto, condemned the violence on both sides. "Politics is about persuasion," he said. No one, he argued, will be coerced into voting a certain way. He also pointed out an uncomfortable truth: the young people being sent to the front line are not the politicians' own children, who are kept safe at home.

The conversation turned sharper when Owalo set out his case against the government he once served. Kenyans are being offered new slogans and visions, he said, without any honest account of what happened to earlier promises. He listed punitive taxation, the high cost of living, debt, corruption and youth joblessness as the real issues. He had been part of the team that designed the bottom-up economic agenda, he said, but "we got into government and priorities changed."

Nyamita pushed back, reminding viewers that Owalo and Omondi were among the leaders who first went to State House to engage the government. Owalo acknowledged he had organised that meeting.

It is a debate that will shape how the former opposition heartland votes in 2027, and whether Nyanza's leaders can compete without their supporters paying the price.

Continue with Part 2 on Citizen TV.