By Anderson Ojwang

Ugenya MP David Ouma Ochieng has successfully sprung surprises on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) by winning the area parliamentary seat in the 2020 by-election through his party, Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG).

Ochieng successfully challenged the election of ODM’s Chris Karan, and in the subsequent by-election, he won by 18,730 votes against Karan’s 14,507.

In the 2022 general election, Ochieng maintained his dominance over ODM by easily winning with 25,520 votes against David Odhiambo, who got 22,828.

Ochieng can be said to have successfully defied the ODM wave by being elected on his own party ticket in a region that overwhelmingly votes a six-piece from president to member of county assembly.

Currently, Ochieng is extending his political tentacles from Siaya County to Homa Bay County, where the party is presenting a candidate.

The MDG candidate, Mr. Collins Okeyo, who was previously viewed as an outsider in the contest and was not rated among the two front runners, is changing the political landscape of the constituency.

Okeyo is emerging as a surprise candidate who may win the by-election scheduled for November 27th.

Okeyo has embarked on the campaign strategies and tactics his boss employed to win the Ugenya by-election and the subsequent election.

Okeyo, a soft-spoken businessman, is viewed as the alternative to the two front runners—Boyd Were of ODM and Philip Aroko, an Independent candidate.

Okeyo resonates well with the electorate because he comes from a very humble background, and they easily identify with him.

“I have been engaged in various projects and drilled water boreholes in the constituency and participated in education and other development programs in the area,” he said.

Okeyo said his campaigns have been peaceful and his main agenda is to end violence and create a conducive environment in Kasipul to allow for economic growth and development.

“I preach peace in my campaigns. I am a Christian, and that foundation requires me to be a peacemaker. We must have a peaceful Kasipul for prosperity,” he said.

While his opponents have been engaged in rallies, Okeyo has been conducting a door-to-door campaign in all the polling stations.

Kasipul Constituency has five wards, namely: Central Kasipul with 15,475 voters, East Kamagak 9,074, South Kasipul 14,318, West Kamagak 14,342, and West Kasipul 15,043.

Okeyo comes from West Kasipul and is the only candidate from the ward. Philip Aroko and Robert Riaga come from East Kamagak, while Boyd Were comes from Central Kasipul. Rateng Otiende and Robert Ouko come from South Kasipul. West Kamagak, with 14,342 voters, has no candidate and will be the determiner and battleground.

In the history of Kasipul and Kasipul Kabondo constituencies, West Kasipul Ward has never produced an MP, while Central produced James Mbori in the larger Kasipul Kabondo; East Kamagak produced Oyugi Magwanga; and South Kasipul produced the late William Oloo Otula and Eng. Peter Owidi for the larger Kasipul Kabondo.

The area has, in recent times, been hard hit by political violence that left two people dead.

Subsequently, IEBC has summoned candidates for the by-election to appear before it over rampant political violence in the area.

“We as a commission were notified about violence in Kasipul. We dispatched our investigation team to the ground. They have concluded their investigation. We will summon those candidates in Kasipul to appear before the commission. Breaches of the code of conduct will be penalized,” said the chairman Erastus Edung Ethekon.

Recently, Deputy President Prof. Kindiki Kithure and Internal Security Permanent Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo declared support for ODM candidate Boyd Were.

At an empowerment funds drive at Sikri in Kasipul, Kindiki and Omollo rallied the electorate to support Boyd as the Broad-Based candidate.

Omollo wrote on his X handle:
“Together with Deputy President Kindiki Kithure, we joined the people and regional leadership of Homa Bay County, led by Governor Gladys Wanga, for a resource mobilization and women empowerment drive in Kasipul Constituency.
The meeting also underscored the spirit of the Broad-Based Government, as leaders expressed unity of purpose while rallying behind ODM candidate Boyd Were within a framework of inclusivity and national cohesion.”

The move by the Deputy President and Omollo to support the ODM candidate threw the UDA leadership and fraternity under the bus and left them orphaned in the by-election.

The grumpy UDA activist Odoyo Owidi and his team, who had been leading the onslaught on Wanga and Boyd, were left stranded by the unfolding political scenario. They are yet to visit Kasipul to campaign.

Odoyo and the late MP, the slain Charles Ongondo Were (the father to Boyd, the ODM candidate), never saw eye to eye, and the decision by the top government leadership to support Boyd has left them punctured and headless.

Odoyo and Ongondo were both ODM aspirants for Kasipul in the 2022 general election, but the party issued a direct ticket to Ongondo, which did not amuse Odoyo.

Will Ochieng make another surprise in Kasipul and potentially become the main competitor to ODM in Nyanza?

By Anderson Ojwang

When Alego MP Sam Atandi asked Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s young Turks to retire from politics and allow youthful leaders to take over, it never occurred to him that he was stirring a pig and street fight.

For Siaya Governor James Orengo, who grudgingly supported the broad-based government after he was boxed into it through intense pressure, has finally bolted out.

Orengo, the diehard political activist and streetwise politician, has shed off his calm demeanor after the demise of Raila Odinga and returned to his true colours — and now he is ready for a pig fight.

“Our community has had politicians who have been around since Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. They were with Jaramogi when he was alive. They were trying to help Jaramogi become president — they failed. Then Raila Amolo Odinga adopted them; they tried to help Raila become president. They also failed.
Now that Raila Amolo Odinga has moved on, they still want to give us direction. I want to tell those politicians that your time is up. You will not give us direction now. Now we have a team of young, competent leaders.
We have been leaders since university, and I want to tell you that when we were in the university, we schemed politics. We were never defeated. Throughout my life in campus, we ensured one of us was the president of the student union.
How come in national politics we have never succeeded?

If there is any leader who thinks of any partnership apart from that with William Ruto, then he is deluded,” Atandi said.

Orengo waited patiently to respond to Atandi’s attack and chose the right location — Mombasa during the ODM 20th anniversary — and in his characteristic fashion, he caused a storm and uproar.

Orengo said:

“There is no way ODM can mbeleza Ruto. I can tell you. But if ODM is strong and you stand on the basis of your leader Raila Amolo Odinga, he wanted a strong and free country. We must fight everywhere.
For me, if there are cowards, don’t sell fear to us. We are prepared to go back to the streets. Me, James Orengo, I am prepared to go back to the streets.
Which government killed Ojwang’? When Raila agreed to form a government together with President Mwai Kibaki, it was constitutionalized.
It was not through an MoU. An MoU is not as good as a marriage certificate. An MoU is not a legal document and is not enforceable. It is not registrable under the Political Parties Act.
What remains is to ask you, the youths — how many of you are prepared to fight for the people? How many of you are prepared to fight like Raila?”

And from that, it was an all-out fight, with Internal Security Permanent Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo saying they were ready for a head-to-head political contest.

“Wa se wacho wach Kenya kendo ma thurwa ka. Jok manigi yor gi moro ok waluoro gi (We have spoken about the country and our community. If some people have their separate political path, we do not fear them).
We are ready to go head to head. Candidate gi no gi kele, gi use marwa ni bende wausi (Let them bring their candidate and we bring ours and sell to the electorates. Then ji oradi — let’s face off).

The idea of conmanship and deceit in our politics must end.
Ok inyal bed oni gi odichieng’ idwa nyisowa kaka idwa siemo wang’ jotelo to in kata gima isetimo gimoro achiel kuma omiyie thuolo to oonge (You cannot pretend to criticize leaders during the day yet you have done nothing for your people).

Ka piny olil, to jatelo no ema pod ichako iluori e toké, ichako secho mondo omiyi gimoro mondo okonyi nikech gima inyalo siemo ma isetimo ne jothuru onge (At night, you sneak to the same president you criticized during the day to ask for help because you have no development record).

So the point is — your days are numbered.
Nitiere joma osewuondo ji e thurwa ka higni gi higni ma giparo ni koro ji ofuwo sana (There are people who have deceived the community for ages thinking we are stupid).

So nyis joma itelo negi gima isetimo negi.
Ne isecho mondo ogèr ni hospital, ne isecho mondo oger ni otuek, ni stadium kato ipukori.
Nikech koro iyudo ji makowi, koro ibukori ni idwa siemo wang’ President (Tell your people what you have done — you were begging for a hospital and a stadium, and now you turn around to criticize the president).”

Homa Bay MP Opondo Kaluma, a rightist, wrote on his X handle:
“That stick Kalonzo gave Governor Orengo in Bondo was ‘kamuti.’ Orengo has been saying some very strange things since then.”

Former ODM deputy party leader and Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho said they will remain in the broad-based government.

“Do not be threatened and scared by people who don’t speak on behalf of the party. Not everybody should be a spokesman. If you look at Gladys Wanga, is she someone to be threatened or scared?
What about Dr Oburu? Who are you to speak if these leaders have not spoken?
You must understand that Baba loved all of us — from the Coast to the Lake.
He accommodated us and listened to our views, and that is why we loved him.
You cannot force us to love someone. We only love the lovable,” he said.

In this pig fight, Orengo has nothing to lose, while his opponents have everything to lose — and the Governor may just go back to his old tricks to trap the loyalists in an endless charade.

By Anderson Ojwang’

ODM party leader Dr. Oburu Odinga finds himself in unfamiliar territory — from the shadows of his younger brother, the late Raila Amolo Odinga, to the focal point and center of attraction.

Oburu is caught between a rock and a hard place, in a complex and delicate balancing act that may soon sweep him back to the shadows with the emergence of his niece Winnie Odinga.

Winnie, who holds Raila’s secrets and card, having witnessed her father slip away in India while undergoing treatment, has thrown the gauntlet to her uncle and the right wing of the party.

And Winnie is leading a constituency that is preparing to take over the management of the party from the current leadership and wants new faces to spearhead negotiations with President William Ruto’s broad-based government or any other formation.

To reinforce and send a coded message to the public, Winnie rose and embraced Embakasi East MP Babu Owino after his speech — a brotherly and sisterly embrace with a coded message to opponents: we are one and we are ready to battle it out with you.

Similarly, during the function, party secretary general Edwin Sifuna took charge and dictated the terms. The right wing, stung by the move, took charge of the Founders’ Dinner Party with the parliamentary minority leader Junet Mohammed taking the lead, while Sifuna was relegated.

When Winnie rose to speak, she said:
“There is something I wanted to tell you. When it came to the matter of the broad-based government, the people of ODM entrusted one person with the management of that relationship. That person was Baba Raila Amolo Odinga.
That relationship is complicated, and therefore we are looking and wondering: those who are taking it upon themselves to manage it now — are they capable of managing that relationship?
I don’t think that is the question for me to answer. That is the question for the people of ODM to answer. That is why, party leader, I am requesting that we need to go back to the people and have an NDC to see who the people want to pick to manage that same relationship,” she said.

But tactical Oburu, an old and shrewd politician, did not swallow the bait but offered to use a different path to resolve the emerging contention.

“When my child Winnie said Raila was at the center of the management of the broad-based relationship… somebody should come to help manage the broad-based government. That is my child; I will speak to her and resolve the matter internally as the Odingas.
But the seat you have given me as the party leader of ODM, I will hold it the way Raila did and ran the party.
I have taken the responsibility and do not be scared. I will do all that appertains to the office and what my brother Raila wanted done and accomplished. We will remain in the broad-based government,” he said.

Winnie understands her father’s political script — the power is with the people — and that is why she wants ODM members consulted. Her secret card is not only about the management of the broad-based arrangement but also the composition of the party leadership.

Winnie understands her father’s script with Siaya Governor James Orengo and his Kisumu counterpart Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o when they fought over the control of Ford-K and Nyanza. When Raila realized he couldn’t defeat Orengo in a boardroom battle, he went to the people and won. It is a similar route Winnie wants to take — not with Oburu, but with the right wing led by party national chairperson Gladys Wanga.

In Winnie’s game plan, the current ODM representatives in the broad-based government could be gullible and may be disadvantaged at the negotiation table, with the majority having already declared support for President William Ruto’s second term.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, a member of the rightist wing, called for the need to respect leaders and avoid street protests, instead adopting boardroom negotiations.

“I want to say there is one thing I learnt from Raila: that as you apply one strategy, you must blend it with another. We have the strategy of going to the streets when things are bad, and Raila also taught us the virtue of having discussions and dialogue in boardrooms.
I want to speak to the people of ODM that you must respect your leaders, but we must also accept that Raila told us to go to the streets when necessary and to the boardroom when necessary,” he said.

A reconciliatory Wanga, speaking at the Founders’ Dinner, said the lesson she had learnt was that:
“At this time of transition, the biggest lesson I pick is that we must hold together because everyone has a role to play if we are going to move the party into the next 20 years.
Another lesson was that it was never devoid of disagreement, and people did not have the same views all the time. Despite that, people sat at a table and embraced hard discussions to come up with a single place.
ODM has been built on a foundation of partnership, and as we move into the future, we must build partnerships with people of like mind,” she said.

In this battle, Winnie has inherited her father’s networks and has a huge financial war chest to sustain the fight, unlike her opponents. Who will blink first? That is the question — and it is just a matter of when.

By Anderson Ojwang’

At the ODM anniversary in Mombasa, Secretary General Edwin Sifuna pulled a fast one on the new leadership and conducted what could be termed a “bloodless coup.”

It was a sweet last laugh for Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, who had lately become a passenger in the party and relegated to whining and mourning. And yesterday, facing the Indian Ocean, Babu beat the drums of war, inviting his opponents to a duel.

Sifuna, on the microphone, caught the rightist wing led by the new party leader Dr. Oburu Oginga and the national chairperson and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga napping, nervy, and deflated.

Sifuna, as the SG, pulled the rug from under the feet of the right wing to invite Embakasi East MP Babu Owino to address the gathering, even though he was not listed as one of the speakers and had not been in Mombasa on Thursday and Friday.

“Mheshimiwa Babu Owino, kuja bwana. Yesterday, Honorable Babu Owino, we had the youth league conference here in Mombasa. They were not happy because they did not see you there. I rang you and instructed that you be in Mombasa this morning. I promised the youths that you would be here today. To show you I have done the work you tasked me to do, let Babu greet you for a minute and be respectful,” he said. And the bloodless coup saw Babu in his majestic nature walk to the podium.

Babu didn’t mince his disgust at the failure to be appointed to any of the party positions that were filled on Friday and wondered why he was not considered.

He equally beat the drums of war, saying that he too was qualified to be party leader and that without him ODM could run into trouble.

“Yesterday, I saw our leaders from ODM appointed to various positions. Congratulations. But allow me to ask, my leaders: you looked at Babu Owino and saw him not worth any seat? You people need to think about that. Youth leader Dr. Oburu Odinga, I respect you, but in the near future, even Babu Owino is fit to be the party leader. We say it is Babu because he has solutions. Bila Babu ni tabu,” he said.

Oburu recently met with Babu to calm the storm after he claimed the party would not give him the ODM ticket and preferred the incumbent Johnson Sakaja.

Sifuna and Babu, the leftists in the party and viewed as the chief opposition to the broad-based government, are seen as antagonists and have been under pressure from the rightists.

Babu, even before the demise of Raila Odinga, had declared support for Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka for the presidency.

Sifuna, at the burial of Raila in Bondo last month, had warned that there should be no misinformation over Raila’s future political preference in the coalition.

Sifuna had questioned the legitimacy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) underpinning the deal, raising concerns over its implementation and transparency.

Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has demanded the resignation or removal of Nairobi Senator and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna for what he claims is fueling confusion within the party.

“He must resign or be thrown out of the ODM party. The faster this happens, the better,” Kaluma said in a statement posted on his X account in a previous post.

Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, a close ally of Raila Odinga, dismissed Sifuna’s sentiments, insisting the senator does not speak on behalf of the party.

The newly appointed coordinator of the Protest Victims Compensation Plan, Makau Mutua, had called on Sifuna to resign from his position as ODM Secretary General, describing his current position as untenable within the party structure.

In a statement posted on his X account on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Mutua suggested that resignation would be the principled course of action for Sifuna given his current circumstances.

“My good learned friend and Senator Edwin Sifuna appears to be in an untenable position as SG of the ODM party,” Mutua stated.

Former ODM Deputy Party Leader and Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho did not take Babu’s sentiments lying low and gave a harsh rebuttal.

“Do not be threatened and scared by people who don’t speak on behalf of the party. Not everybody should be a spokesman. We have leaders. If you look at Gladys Wanga, is she a person to be threatened and scared? What about Dr. Oburu? Who are you to speak if these leaders have not spoken? You must also understand that Baba loved all of us, from the Coast to the Lake. He accommodated us and listened to our views, and that is why we loved him. You cannot force us to love someone. We only love the lovable,” he said.

Siaya Governor James Orengo said there is nowhere ODM can plead with Ruto because the President needs ODM most.

Ruto, at the funeral, had pledged that he would not allow ODM to die or be taken away by some people for selfish gain.

As the celebration came to a close, with the war drums on, the rightist wing must go back to the drawing board to contain the leftists, who seem to be ahead in the game.