By Team
Could there be a deliberate attempt by a section of some top leaders in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to undermine the office of the party leader, Dr Oburu Oginga, and place his private office in disrepute?
The Thursday incident where some youths stormed the private office of Dr Oburu in Riverside to evict the Chief of Staff, Mr Michael Agwanda, and chased away the employees could be a pointer to a bigger war not only in the office but also in the Linda Ground faction of ODM.
Scared employees, who were recently employed by the party leader, scampered for safety while Agwanda was out of the office on an official function.
The youths looked to be under strict instructions to evict Agwanda and the newly recruited employees from the private office to allow a change of guards.
Interestingly, the alleged sacking of Agwanda was sent out on social media platforms by bloggers allied to a senior party official, while there was no official communication from Oburu’s office over the fate of Agwanda.
Agwanda dismissed the sacking, terming it a non-issue meant to create chaos and anarchy in the office.
“I was with the party leader in the morning, and we planned for the weekend and next week. I have not been sacked. You can see clearly the source of the information, and you can easily tell who is behind it,” he said.
Agwanda said his boss was the party leader and he had his reasons for the appointment, and he will continue to discharge his role as the Chief of Staff.
In one of the posts read: “OFFICIAL NOTICE: The Office of the Party Leader wishes to inform the public that Mr. Michael Agwanda has been relieved of his duties as Chief of Staff, with immediate effect. This decision follows established concerns regarding breaches of confidentiality and violations of the protocols governing the operations of the Office of the Party Leader. Mr. Agwanda is therefore no longer serving in any official capacity within the said office.”
Why is Agwanda being fought?
Agwanda has changed the management of the office and the party leader’s diary and programmes, which has enraged several MPs, party officials, and cartels who had unfettered access to the former party leader, the late Raila Odinga.
Currently, everyone is required to seek an appointment before one is able to meet Dr Oburu, and there is no loitering in the private office.
Similarly, Dr Oburu’s itinerary is well planned and coordinated, and he no longer attends impromptu functions. He currently has time to play golf, to be with family, and to engage in his personal duties.
And now infighting, power struggle, proximity, and direct access to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader are becoming a common feature at the Riverside Estate, the private office of Dr Oburu Oginga.
Dr Oburu, the party leader, finds himself in an unusual and unfamiliar situation as various forces fight over his attention, control of his diary, and itinerary ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The action comes hot on the heels of a recent eviction threat to Agwanda from the office by Rangwe MP Dr Lilian Gogo, claiming Agwanda was a stranger.
“Governor Gladys Wanga, that show-cause letter you gave to Edwin Sifuna, I want it to be given to a son of Homa Bay. I don’t know whether he has gone? We can give him the show-cause letter. How can one represent the party leader as Chief of Staff while the MPs are here? How do you go to a function where the party chairperson is in attendance and you come here saying you want to represent the party leader? If it is for the joke, we will remove you from that office. I, Dr Lilian Achieng Gogo, have said it. We will remove you,” she said.
“The honeymoon is over. Will Oburu continue to play as pawn or the king? Will Winnie eventually wriggle her way into the ODM leadership?” she quipped.
Oburu shocked many when he settled on Agwanda, a close family friend, against the various senior former and current high-ranking government officials who had been proposed to him by some of the top officials in the party.
The proposal was meant to cage and control Oburu’s political move and keep him in check. Already, some quarters had wanted him to remove his son Elijah Oburu from his post of personal assistant. But Oburu and Elijah rebuffed the move.
Some of the disgruntled ODM leaders fear that Agwanda’s position as Chief of Staff will undermine their political plot ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It will be interesting to watch whether Agwanda will survive the political machinations in the ODM party or whether he will call it a day.
