Ugenya MP-elect David Ochieng has revealed the secret tactics that saw him trounce Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate, Chris Karan, who was backed by Raila Odinga, to clinch the seat.
In a sit down with The Star, Ochieng revealed that he was not financially loaded and would once in a while campaign on a bicycle as well as move door to door.
He further divulged that he shunned the media since he knew that they would turn the race into a contest between his party and that of Raila.
“It was a strategy to defuse the rumour that I had a lot of money. It helped in a big way to make my opponent relax. I avoided the media like the plague since they were going to hype it as a war between me and Raila.
“Our opponents’ big rallies helped us as we would revisit those areas the following day to explain my mandate. I was truthful to them and told what we were going to do,” he narrated.
He explained that the strategy made his opponents relax thinking that he did not have enough resources to beat ODM, a party considered the area's giant.
Nonetheless, the victor disclosed that running the campaigns was very expensive and that there were times he would spend up to Ksh1 million per day but his friends came to the rescue.
“There are guys who could send me Ksh2,000, Ksh5,000 at times Ksh20,000. My lawyer friends and those we worked with at IGAD (The Intergovernmental Authority on Development) also came in handy. There were days we could spend up to Ksh1 million in a day,” he continued.
He also took the opportunity to hit out at Deputy President William Ruto's allies after it emerged that his victory could be attributed to Ruto. He asked them not to take credit of his success.
Ochieng' clinched the seat after garnering 18,730 votes becoming the first candidate not associated with the Odinga family to win in the area since independence.
