By Anderson Ojwang
Could Western Kenya be staring at a political thunderbolt from the sulking Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Wycliffe Oparanya?
Could Oparanya be rebelling and wanting out to champion a new political dispensation for the Luhya community, with a view to forming government in the 2027 general elections?
Or could Oparanya be preparing to unleash a political thunderbolt that may redefine the 2027 presidential election, with the Luhya community—the second largest in Kenya—repositioning itself?
Oparanya’s political move could be a thunder blow to both President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the architect of the broad-based government.
Ruto has been on overdrive to woo his opponents into the broad-based government, with the latest capture being Gideon Moi, the KANU National Chairman. Oparanya’s bolting could be a blow.
Oparanya recently asked the Speaker of the National Assembly, who is also the party leader of Ford-K, to dissolve the party so that the Luhya community could form and have one formidable party ahead of the 2027 general election.
Oparanya also said he was ready to walk out of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to join the outfit so that it could help the Luhya community clinch the presidency in the 2027 presidential election.
“You, Wetang’ula, dissolve your party, Ford Kenya. I, Oparanya, will leave ODM so that we can join together and form one strong and formidable party.
I am ready, and you cannot say you want to be the President of Kenya with five MPs.
So, there is no need for us to come here asking for support from the people—that is a waste of time.
You people are planning for 2032. In government planning, we have a medium-term plan, which goes for five years. After every five years, we have a new medium-term plan.
You people have a medium term of ten years. I don’t know where you have learnt and got that from.
In our medium-term plan, when you come here, I want you to say where the Luhya community will be in 2027.
The governor has said he wants us to be in government in 2027, but I want to say this: in 2027, I want us to form the government.
Let us form the government in 2027. We don’t want the business of being in government where we are managed left and right. And when we are given a seat, we get excited and satisfied. We then clap and say the government is working.
I want us to form the government so that we can guarantee our people the power to undertake development in the region and the country.
We cannot stand here and talk about our people while the issue of Nzoia Sugar Company and Mumias Sugar Company has not been resolved,” he said at a recent function in Western Kenya.
ODM has been the main casualty in recent times in Kakamega County, where it failed to present a candidate for the Malava Constituency by-election.
Similarly, the party was left with a rotten egg on its face after a candidate they had given a certificate to contest the Kisa East Ward by-election returned the ticket and instead opted to run on Eugene Wamalwa’s DAP-K.
Thomas Omurunga Oyolo declined the offer, saying he had moved to DAP-K and that the award of the ticket was done without consultations.
He wrote:
“I, Thomas Omurunga Oyolo, on 12th September, was awarded a nomination certificate to contest for Kisa East Ward in the coming by-election slated for 27th November 2025, and for reasons best known to me.
It is regrettable that the nomination certificate was drawn and issued in my name before consultations could reach their logical conclusion.
By the time ODM was reaching out to me, my name had already been forwarded to DAP-K, where I am duly registered as a life member,” he wrote.
Oparanya and his successor, Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, have been on a warpath over the party leadership in the area.
While Oparanya supports MP Nabii Nabwire for the county chairmanship, Barasa has maintained he is the chairperson and has even appealed to Ruto and Raila to discipline the Cabinet Secretary.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has been causing political havoc in Luhya land and was recently installed as the spokesperson for Vihiga County.
But Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called on Western Kenya leaders to rise beyond petty politics and unite the region.
Mudavadi told the leaders to emulate their peers in other regions and extend a hand of friendship that will also help unify the country.
He regretted that regional politics have for far too long been marred by mere rhetoric instead of focusing on service delivery and development for the people.
“We must move away from petty politics. How is it that everybody else is always wrong and you assume that you are always right? It is not possible. Only Jesus, or perhaps God, is impeccable, but there is no human being who is perfect and who is always right.
It is not me who is going to vote you out—it is the people who put you there who will decide if you go on or not. Stop wasting your time talking about Mudavadi as if I am your obstacle. Fanya kazi yako, mimi nifanye kazi yangu,” Mudavadi said.
He cautioned the residents of Western Kenya against political distractions from leaders with no agenda and urged them to continue supporting the government under President Ruto’s leadership.
“We have seen President Ruto and Gideon Moi unite for the sake of the country. This gesture should inspire our region to unite, especially the leadership from Western Kenya. We have to work and create jobs for our youth. That is my agenda and should be our agenda. We must set aside divisions for the sake of development and unity for our people,” he said.
He cautioned against sibling rivalry within the political leadership of the region, saying it is portraying a bad image nationwide and demeaning the level of respect that seasoned politicians from the region have earned over the years.
“Don’t waste your time as a leader discussing Mudavadi and other leaders like the President. Look for what you want, and it is the voters who will decide through God’s blessings, not through insults. There are some people who are advanced in age but seem not to have grown up. This is a big problem in our politics, and I am telling my fellow leaders: let us be mature in our politics.
My target is different, and it is national. I am aiming at the top. I have served as an MP, a Minister, a Vice President, a Deputy Prime Minister, and now I am the equivalent of the Prime Minister in my capacity as Prime Cabinet Secretary. What remains is only one seat—and that is the topmost seat in the land,” Mudavadi said.
