Political parties are scrambling for membership in Siaya County, with the Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) and United Democratic Alliance launching separate recruitment drives to bolster their numbers. In what appears to be a move to make inroads in an area believed to be the Orange Democratic Movement stronghold, grassroots officials of the two parties, members of the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance separately say that they are out to prove that the area was in support of the government. Speaking in Sega, Ugenya constituency, during the launch of the MDG recruitment drive, party officials, Joseph Olale and Sylvester Wire called on their competitors not to interfere with their programme, adding that their party stood for peace and development. Olale, a nominated member of the county assembly said that MDG targets to register a minimum of 10,000 members in Ugenya constituency alone after which the exercise will be extended to other constituencies in Siaya. ‘After this, we shall extend it to other parts of the country’ said Olale adding ‘we are determined that, through our party leader, David Ochieng and Kenya Kwanza, Luo Nyanza will benefit from true multiparty democracy’. Speaking during the occasion that saw party representatives at the polling station level meet to chart the way forward, Sylvester Wire called on Ugenya residents to forge a common front when approaching development matters. ‘We must have a common approach to development and stop pulling in different directions based on our political affiliations’ said Wire, a former chairman of the defunct Ukwala Town council. Apart from MDG that kicked off its membership registration drive today in Ugenya constituency, UDA, led by politician Fredrick Oyugi Dor has been making forays in Ugunja constituency where it has already conducted recruitment exercises in Luanda, Uhuyi and Doho areas in the past two weeks.

Source: Kenya News Agency