By Anderson Ojwang
The simmering battle between Governor James Orengo and Speaker George Okode has burst open after the assembly wrote to the Commission on Administrative Justice (Ombudsman) seeking an advisory opinion over irregular appointments in Siaya County Government.
The bone of contention between Orengo and Okode has been over the appointment of the CEC for Finance in the new cabinet appointments by the Governor.
According to Okode, George Nyangiro was first appointed CEC for Roads but was also made to act as CEC for Finance after the resignation of the office holder.
“The term for all the CEC members expired, positions were advertised and filled. For the nominee for CEC Finance, the Assembly rejected and asked the Governor to appoint a new one. But the Governor went ahead to give Nyangiro two-month contracts as CEC Finance, which was in contravention of the law,” he said.
Okode said the Assembly rejected the nominee because he did not have the requisite qualification for the CEC Finance position.
“We decided to seek the opinion of the Ombudsman after Orengo refused to listen to us, and we have been vindicated,” he said.
And the Ombudsman has directed Orengo to revoke the purported extension of the appointment of Nyangiro dated 29th May 2026 and proceed to nominate a qualified nominee to the County Assembly for approval.
In a letter by the Clerk of the Assembly dated 16th June 2026, the Commission’s guidance was sought on several appointments and extensions of tenure which the Assembly alleged had been undertaken in contravention of the Constitution of Kenya, the Office of the County Attorney Act, 2020, the Leadership and Integrity Act, and other applicable instruments.
The Assembly had raised concerns relating to compliance with the Constitution, the rule of law, separation of powers, accountability, and proper exercise of executive authority.
Findings
To resolve the identified concerns, the Commission advised and directed that the Governor of Siaya County should immediately revoke all the appointments, acting appointments, contract extensions, renewals, and redesignations found in the advisory opinion to have been made in contravention of the Constitution and applicable law.
That the Governor shall ensure that every appointment, acting appointment, renewal of contracts, extension of tenure, redesignation, or reappointment to an office requiring County Assembly approval is submitted to the County Assembly for prior approval in accordance with the Constitution and applicable statutes.
Revoke
That upon the revocation of the unlawful appointments, the Governor should immediately commence lawful recruitment processes for all affected offices and submit qualified nominees to the County Assembly for approval.
The Governor should immediately commence a competitive recruitment process for the office of County Secretary and the Director of Governor’s Press.
That the conduct of the Governor and CEC Nyangiro should be referred to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for investigation into possible violations of the Leadership and Integrity Act.
Irregular appointments
The Commission found that the appointment of Peter Asuke as acting Chief Officer was done without the approval of the County Assembly for an indefinite period and without meeting the prescribed academic qualifications.
The appointment of the County Solicitor as acting County Attorney was done without the required County Assembly approval or compliance with the statutory appointment procedure under the Office of the County Attorney Act, 2020.
Okode recently declared his gubernatorial interest for Siaya County and is leaning towards Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga.
Orengo is the party leader of the yet-to-be-registered Linda Mwananchi, a faction in ODM after a fallout.
In the Linda Mwananchi group are immediate former ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, among others.
