By Team
The political temperatures in Kisumu County took a different turn after the National Chairperson of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Gladys Wanga, and her entourage were heckled and shouted down in Ahero Town.
Wanga drove and made a stopover in Ahero Town in what was seen as testing the ground after the failed sacking of ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and the differences over the proposed pre-election pact between ODM and President William Ruto’s UDA party.
Wanga was last week in Mombasa with other National Executive Council members, where they sacked Sifuna over alleged disciplinary issues and mandated the party to embark on a pre-election coalition with the UDA party.
However, the Political Parties Tribunal Court gave Sifuna a reprieve. While ODM party leader Dr Oburu Oginga maintained that Busia Woman Representative Catherine Omanyo remains the Secretary General, he described Sifuna as the “court-recognised Secretary General.”
Wanga, once a darling of the crowd, found herself on the wrong side of the emerging political dispensation and was heckled and shouted down by the crowd.
“Ongee ka uchamo uriambo kendo to duo kuru (Nothing, nothing, lies, lies. If you ate alone, take it back),” the crowd shouted.
Wanga, the Homa Bay Governor, was on her way to Homa Bay and made a stopover in Ahero, where she met a hostile crowd and was booed.
Wanga, who was accompanied by Homa Bay County Assembly Majority Leader Richard Ogindo and Kisumu ODM leader Adui Nyang’, was heckled by the crowd, who chanted “uongo” (lies).
A shocked Wanga was left baffled after the crowd said the party does not help them and expressed disinterest in the proposed pre-election coalition pact.
Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi rally will be held in Kisii on Friday, and the team is expected to make a brief stopover in Kisumu on the way.
Ogindo was also heckled when he said the country was divided into two political blocs: the broad-based alliance of President William Ruto and ODM leader Dr Oburu Oginga, and another faction.
“Jodalawa, adwaro ni uwinj wechegi maber. Kenya, siasa osepogore e mirengo ariyo. Mirengo mokuongo en broad-based ka otel gi William Samoei Ruto gi marengo mar ariyo en mar Wamunyoro (My people, I want you to understand this well. In Kenya today, politics has been divided into two blocs. The first bloc is the broad-based government headed by President William Ruto, and the other is headed by Wamunyoro [Rigathi Gachagua]),” he said, but the crowd responded, “Uongo!” (Lies).
President William Ruto held a consultative meeting with legislators from Kakamega County ahead of the Linda Mwananchi rally scheduled for this Saturday.
The meeting comes hot on the heels of the ODM faction led by Secretary General Edwin Sifuna announcing the Linda Mwananchi tour of Kakamega this Saturday.
After successful Busia and Kitengela Linda Mwananchi tours and emerging pressure from Kakamega, the team comprising Siaya Governor James Orengo, Babu Owino, Caroli Omondi, Geoffrey Osotsi, Caleb Amisi, among others, yielded to the demand for what is billed as the mother of all rallies.
It will mark the return of their son after he was sacked by the ODM National Governing Council but received a reprieve from the Political Parties Tribunal Court.
President Ruto’s meeting with the legislators sent mixed signals on the political terrain, coming shortly after a section of MPs from the county sided with Sifuna over his sacking.
President Ruto, on his X handle, said he engaged MPs from Kakamega County at State House, Nairobi, on matters of development.
“Our discussions centered on accelerating development projects, including affordable housing, modern markets, road upgrades, the expansion of Kakamega Airport, completion of Bukhungu Stadium, and deepening access to electricity and water, among others.
We undertake to work with all leaders, irrespective of their political persuasions, to move our country forward and leave no one behind,” he wrote.
