Melinda Auma, the mother of slain Rongo University student Sharon Otieno, has joined politics.
Auma will be contesting for the Homa Bay Woman Representative seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket in the August 9th elections.
She will face off with five others who are eyeing the seat including Mary Ojode of DAP-K, Joyce Osogo of ODM, and independent candidates Molline Ngala, Tabitha Nyandiek and Elizabetb Ogweno.
Speaking in Homa Bay town after receiving a direct UDA nomination ticket on Monday, Auma said she will initiate various economic programs for youths and women in the county if she is elected.
“Homa Bay people are suffering, from the boda boda sector to mama mbogas are feeling the effects of the harsh economy while the leaders engage in corruption,” she said.
She also pledged to introduce policies that will empower women and small-scale traders.
Though Homa Bay county is considered an ODM stronghold, Auma says her decision to vie on a UDA party ticket is due to her love for the party’s leader Deputy President William Ruto, and his bottom-up economic model.
She vowed to drum up support for Ruto, who is eyeing the presidency under the UDA party and Kenya Kwanza alliance.
Her daughter Sharon, who was a second-year student at Rongo University, was found dead near Kodera Forest in Homa Bay in September 2018.
Migori Governor Okoth Obado is facing charges over the murder of the 26-year-old and her unborn child.
DNA test confirmed that Obado, who confessed he was in a love affair with the mother of three, was the biological father of the unborn child.
