Ex- Kisumu chief of staff blames woes on power games

Former Kisumu County Chief of Staff Patrick Ouya has attributed his unceremonious removal from office to power games.

He attributed his tribulations to some forces who he said were hell-bent on creating a wedge between him and Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o. He dismissed ‘the gun drama’ story as malicious fabrication.

But just four days after being hounded out of office by his long-term friend and ally, Mr Ouya has said he has no regrets for quitting his four months’ job.

“I knew I was going to lose the war when my boss lost trust in me and failed to protect me,” he told

Mr Ouya was dismissed for allegedly threatening to shoot Governor Nyong’o and his deputy Mathews Owili at the county headquarters.

GROSS MISCONDUCT

Prof Nyong’o termed the move as unbefitting and gross misconduct of a public officer and contrary to Article 75 of the Constitution and Article 40 of the County Government’s Act.

However, Mr Ouya said the incident was blown out of proportion after he had a heated argument with some people who he said are from the governor’s Seme clan.

“They came into my office and accused me of planning to impeach the governor and we had bitter exchange of words before I chased them out of office,” he said.

He added: “Minutes later, I was shocked to see security officers in my office with accusation that I wanted to shoot the governor. But they did not find me with any fire arm after a search in my office.”

Mr Ouya was grilled by police and released over the incident.

CARRIED FIREARM

While confirming that he is a licensed gun holder, Mr Ouya said that he has not carried his firearm for the last four months after he sustained an injury on his waist.

The former Lamu Town clerk also dismissed claims that he is ‘trigger happy’ saying the allegation has never been proven.

“They tried setting me up on corruption matters and resorted to fixing me on the gun incident,” he said.

However, he said the only incident where he was forced to shoot in the air was in 2015 when rowdy youth accosted him at a funeral in Muhoroni.

MOUNTING PRESSURE

“Investigations by the police established that I was justified since I was defending the occupants in my car and myself,” he said.

In January 2018, he was also faced with similar accusations of allegedly threatening Seme ODM chairman Leonard Ochar. But Mr Ouya pointed out that the decision by Prof Nyong’o to remove him from his position was due to mounting pressure from his Seme clansmen who had infiltrated the Governor’s office.

“I have not been having peace since the governor came from the US where he went for treatment,” Mr Ouya said.

The sacking of Mr Ouya has also widened the political rivalry between the governor and Senator Fred Outa who accused Prof Nyong’o of being dictatorial.