Tobius Okelo’s 2022 victory faces fresh scrutiny as aspirants take grassroots fight to markets, youth groups and villages*The political temperature in Kakrao Ward is rising.
With the 2027 General Election still months away, the Suna East ward is already becoming a testing ground for competing political ambitions, development claims and grassroots mobilisation.Kakrao is not an ordinary electoral patch.
With nearly 17,000 registered voters according to the 2022 register, it was the second-largest ward in Suna East by voter numbers after Suna Central. The ward had 16,948 registered voters spread across 30 polling stations in 2022.
Its political importance is therefore difficult to ignore.The ward sits within Suna East Constituency, whose four electoral units are Kakrao, Suna Central, God Jope and Kwa.
And as the 2027 contest begins to take shape, the battle for the County Assembly seat is increasingly shifting from the formal political arena to the grassroots — markets, churches, boda boda stages, youth gatherings, sporting events and community functions.
At the centre of the emerging contest is incumbent politician Tobius Okelo Martin, who captured the Kakrao MCA seat on an Orange Democratic Movement ticket in 2022 with 5,873 votes.
The official election results confirm that Kakrao was among the Suna East wards won by ODM in that election.
But the political landscape is beginning to attract new players.
Among those positioning themselves is youth organiser Beb Onyango , popularly known as A Teacher,or Opuk Jakinda, Siprin Kwamboka Oloo as well as community mobiliser Spencer Adams.
Their emergence is setting up an early contest over who can claim the mantle of grassroots representation in a ward whose electorate is increasingly demanding tangible answers on roads, water, healthcare, youth opportunities and local economic development.
For the incumbent, the 2027 election is likely to be a referendum of sorts on the record accumulated since the 2022 election.
Supporters of Okelo point to ward development initiatives and efforts around infrastructure and community support as part of his political record.
But his challengers are seeking to turn everyday frustrations into a political argument.
Among the issues being raised are feeder roads, access to water, opportunities for young people and the economic challenges confronting informal traders and boda boda operators.The emerging criticism does not necessarily amount to a settled verdict on the incumbent’s performance.
Rather, it illustrates the central question that is beginning to dominate the ward’s political conversation: what has changed in Kakrao since 2022, and what remains unfinished?
That question could become increasingly important as residents compare campaign promises with actual projects delivered.
Indeed, the county’s own 2026/27 Annual Development Plan lists several proposed interventions in Kakrao, including construction of dispensaries at Nyikendo, Kakrao and Flagona, additional dispensaries at Nyarongi and Anjego, drug supply initiatives, roads and public infrastructure.
The existence of these projects provides aspirants with another avenue for political debate — not simply whether projects have been promised, but their status, funding, implementation and impact on residents.
Onyango is attempting to build his political profile from the bottom up.
Known locally by several nicknames, including A Teacher and Opuk Jakinda, he has been cultivating a reputation around youth mobilisation and community engagement.His political pitch, according to the campaign narrative emerging around him, is built less around political establishment networks and more around direct interaction with residents.
Issues such as insecurity affecting boda boda operators, education support, bursaries and church development have featured prominently in his grassroots engagements.
The approach is significant in a ward where young people occupy an important space in the local economy through boda boda transport, informal trade and other small enterprises.
For Onyango, the political calculation appears straightforward: turn visibility at the grassroots into a broader conversation about representation.
But converting community visibility into votes is a considerably more difficult undertaking.
He will need to establish a ward-wide network capable of reaching the different settlements and polling stations while convincing voters beyond his immediate support base.
Siprin Kwamboka Oloo is also positioning himself as a community-oriented alternative.
Her political messaging centres on transparency, public participation, youth empowerment and closer scrutiny of county affairs.
His engagement with families during social functions and community fundraising events has also provided him with opportunities to build a grassroots profile.
The challenge for Oloo, as with the other aspirants, will be translating community goodwill into a coherent political organisation.
The Kakrao contest is unlikely to be decided solely by who is most visible at public functions.
The successful campaign will have to answer practical questions about ward development, resource allocation, public participation and the ability of an MCA to influence county policy and budgets.
Perhaps the biggest political question hanging over Kakrao is the ODM nomination.The 2022 results show just how firmly the ward voted for the party.
Okelo won the MCA seat on an ODM ticket, while ODM candidates also captured all four Suna East ward seats that year.
That history makes the party nomination potentially as consequential as the general election itself.
For aspirants operating within the ODM ecosystem, the road to the County Assembly may therefore involve two separate contests — first convincing party members during the nomination process and then taking that candidature to the wider electorate.
This is where grassroots structures, local alliances and relationships with party officials could become important.
But it also carries risks.A bruising primary could leave factions within the same party competing against each other long after the nomination exercise has ended.
The youth vote is likely to be another major issue.Kakrao’s peri-urban character means that employment, small businesses, boda boda operations, security and access to credit are likely to remain important issues for voters.
For young people, the political debate is increasingly expected to move beyond conventional promises of bursaries and sporting equipment towards questions of economic opportunity.
Who can help create an environment in which young people can start and sustain businesses?Who can address insecurity affecting motorcycle operators?
Who can push for better roads connecting markets and settlements?And what role should the MCA play in ensuring that county programmes reach young people at ward level?
These questions could prove more consequential than personalities as the campaign develops.
The county’s current development plan offers a glimpse into the issues that could dominate the contest.
Among the projects earmarked for Kakrao are health facilities, drug supplies, roads, modern latrines, public administration infrastructure and land-related interventions. Each project creates an accountability question.
Residents can ask whether the project was funded, whether procurement was completed, whether construction started, whether it was completed and, ultimately, whether it has improved their lives.
That could make development records a critical weapon for both the incumbent and his challengers.
The incumbent can point to completed projects and argue for continuity.Challengers can ask why certain problems remain unresolved.
The electorate, meanwhile, gets to decide which account it finds more convincing.
Kakrao’s political significance is also amplified by its electoral weight.The ward had 16,948 registered voters in the 2022 register, compared with 18,244 in Suna Central, 10,344 in God Jope and 8,929 in Kwa.
That makes Kakrao one of the most populous electoral units in Suna East.
The 2022 results also show the strength of the ODM brand in the ward.
But four years is a long time in local politics, and the emergence of multiple aspirants suggests that the next contest could be more competitive.
For now, however, the race remains fluid.
The challengers must build credible ward-wide organisations and demonstrate that their criticism of the incumbent translates into an alternative programme.
The incumbent, on the other hand, must defend his record while responding to demands for more development, greater accountability and stronger engagement with residents.
And behind the politicians are voters who will ultimately judge the competing claims.
The Kakrao contest is therefore becoming more than a battle for an MCA seat.It is shaping into a broader contest over who speaks for the ward, who controls its political machinery and, most importantly, what residents expect from their next representative.
As 2027 approaches, Kakrao’s political battleground is likely to become increasingly crowded.The campaign has started quietly.
But in a ward of almost 17,000 registered voters, even a small political tremor can have consequences far beyond its boundaries.
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