Mr Osore Ondusye From Sweden To Run For Butula Seat In Kenya.

Mr. Osere Ondusye, a well known teacher in Sweden who teaches in Sodertalje is travelling to Kenya to contest in the upcoming elections in Butula constituency which is currently under Dr. Mango. A groundswell for new political direction is exactly what Mr. Osore Ondusye is banking on. The long-time mathematics teacher is facing an uphill battle in his run for the ODM nomination for Butala seat given the fact that the ODM nomination is going to be titanic. But like many, he believes the time is right for an insurgent candidate to succeed. Speaking to Jamii, Mr. Ondusye said, “I decided to get into the race late last summer after I had travelled around Butula and discovered that Butala was leaderless. I believe that for my people to have a bright future the country has to undergo a fundamental change and I am the man who can bring the changes”.

Running for a state-wide office, the challenges facing Mr. Osore are plentiful. He needs a lot of money for the campaign. He said he is ready and armed with cash that is needed to see him through the campaign to victory come the Election Day. “I love meeting voters, listening to them, talking about the issues. If we’re not going to change the country now, I don’t know when. If we’re not going to stop the destructive tribalism now, if we’re not going to fix our schools now, I don’t know when.” Mr. Ondusye said. With just a month and a half left until judgment day, Osere and other 10 contestants are in overdrive, working furiously to get out their voters and land new ones. But for a teacher-turned-politician, regardless of what happens in the voting booths, his campaign trail is going to be a one hell of a ride given the fact that he is still in Sweden trying to solidify funds for campaign.

Some Kenyans in Sweden have dedicated themselves to the cause “We dream about the campaign and we are ready to help him though we are not politically active”, said one of the supporters.  Though Mr. Osere hasn’t been in politics for long, he can’t be underestimated because he has very good leadership and organizational skills. Even though his campaign hasn’t attracted considerable attention in Sweden for the past months, Mr Osore knows that virtually everything needs to break his way if he is to defeat the incumbent Dr. Mango.

If not now, when?

“The biggest challenge is raising money,” he says. “We clearly have a broken political system in Kenya. Running for office becomes so money dependent, it’s very difficult to raise the large sums of money unless you’re personally wealthy or willing to sell out to an array of special interests. I’m not wealthy and I’m not willing to sell out, so fund raising is far and away the biggest challenge. If you’re not an established politician, and you don’t have a lot of money, you have to work extra hard to get your voice heard.” The politician said.

Talking in a very different style that I have never seen him in, he continues, “If I can’t convert people and get them excited, I’ll be at zero in the polls,” he says. “It wouldn’t surprise me to win and it wouldn’t surprise me to get 2 percent of the vote or anywhere in between.” Mr. Osore was born in Kenya in Western province in Butala and later move to the USA for further studies and worked at Nairobi University as a lecturer in mathematics before residing in Sweden where he currently works.

In Butula, Mr. Ondusye will face Dr Christine Mango, science researcher Moses Mulomi and 10 more candidates that are attracted to the seat. Whichever way you look at it, politics is a dirty game and anything can happen. Hon. Mwandawiro Mhanga won a political seat in his Wundanyi constituency after residing in Sweden for many years. Indeed, besides politicians themselves, no other professional knows the depth of dishonesty in politics better than a teacher who taught them how to lie. But reality shows that politics is more thrilling than any other profession. Or why so would many other career men and women like Mr. Osore hang up their boots earlier than necessary to take the plunge into politics, which is always a dive into the deep end, there being no shallow end in the shark-infested waters of the sea of politics?  For instance, many Kenyans in Sweden will be keeping an eye on what Mr. Osore will be doing in Butula Constituency. The reason for joining politics, he says, is because he grew up in the village and therefore understands the needs of the people better than most. The scribes who have chosen elective politics for a change acknowledges that politics is an expensive undertaking where entrants need to have deep pockets. Jamii wish Mwalimu Osore all the best.

Munala wa Munala.