Remembering former Ugenya MP Stephen Ondiek

Its exactly 10 years since the former Ugenya and Uholo MP died in September 2011.

Former Ugenya MP Archbishop Stephen Omdiek Oluoch served as the legislator for Ugenya Constituency from the year 2002 until 2007 under the National Rainbow Coalition. Before that the late MP had been elected to parliament at various times between from 1983-1992.

The late Archbishop Ondiek remembered for bringing a mortuary to Ukwala hospital is also credited with the building of a library in Ukwala when he was chairman of the Kenya national library services. He initiated a water project on which thousands of Ugenya people rely for the vital commodity.    

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Born in 1945, the 5 time Ugenya MP was a committed Legion Maria adherent and an un-apologetic polygamist who came up with various projects that still benefit the people of Ugenya and Uholo todate.

Althought he never had any formal education but ended up investing heavily in education, Ondiek set up various low cost private schools which reduced placement competition for students seeking secondary education from Ugenya. He utilized these private schools to avail scholarship for needy students from Ugenya.

Ondiek also had smaller projects that were innovative in conception. With the knowledge that his constituents had an attachment to ritual burial in Ugenya, he set up free transport for urban labour migrants in Nairobi who needed free transport body home for the body and the dependants.

In 1979 Ondiek fielded his brother in law James Orengo to face Ogutu in the by-election following his 10 year ban from from running after he was found guilty of violating election laws by carrying balot papers to court during an election petition he had filed against the then MP Mathews Ogutu who had defeated him by 26 votes in a previous general election. Ogutu would later romp in freely to parliament when Orengo ran away into exile to escape government incarceration for forgery sending Ugenya to a second by-election while Ondiek was still serving a 10-year bar.

In 2002 after serving out his ban, Ondiek returned to the political scene and defeated Orengo his brother in Law who ran for President on a Social Democratic Party.