• They are Simba Arati (Kisii), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Kakamega’s Fernandes Barasa and Mombasa's Abdulswamad Nassir.
• They are seeking to replace the four members of the party nominated to Cabinet by President William Ruto.
Image: FAITH MATETE
As lobbying for ODM leadership positions intensifies, Homa Bay Bunge La Wenye Nchi has urged the party not to pick governors, citing potential conflict of interest.
The group argued that governors may misuse public funds to support political activities and should stop looking for those positions.
Four governors from Nyanza, Western and Coast are eyeing the deputy party leader position.
They are Simba Arati (Kisii), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Kakamega’s Fernandes Barasa and Mombasa's Abdulswamad Nassir.
They are seeking to replace the four members of the party nominated to Cabinet by President William Ruto.
The ODM deputy leader positions were previously held by Hassan Joho who is now the Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs CS and Wycliffe Oparanya, the new CS fpr Co-operatives and Micro, small and Medium Enterprises.
The party is also seeking to replace national chairman and nominated MP John Mbadi who is now National Treasury and Economic Planning and National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi, the new Energy and Petroleum CS.
Wandayi doubled up as the ODM director of political affairs.
Arati, Wanga, Barasa and Nassir four leaders have been endorsed by various groups to fill in the vacant positions.
However, Homa Bay Bunge La Wenye Nchi expressed dissatisfaction with ODM governors who have expressed interests in the party deputy leader seat.
Organisation coordinator Okano Nyasanga and speaker Walter Opiyo said electing a serving governors is likely to interfere with service delivery.
Nyasanga claimed if a governor is elected as the deputy party leader, he/she would prioritise the party activities at the expense of running the county government.
“It’s not good for a serving governor to be elected as ODM deputy party leader. They will use public funds to finance political party activities instead of development,” he claimed.
Opiyo argued that governors should focus on management of resources in their counties.
He said a governor elected as ODM party leader will not have time to serve the people and will instead be engrossed in political activities.
“Let ODM not allow governors to become deputy party leaders. Governors have their work cut out and they should focus on managing the resources of counties,” Opiyo said.
He said a governor is likely to forget the people because they know they are in a better position to secure nomination tickets to defend their seats in 2027.
“There are slim chances that ODM can deny a deputy party leader a nomination ticket to defend his or her seat. This means any governor picked as deputy party leader can decide not to serve the people well because they are sure of securing tickets to seek reelection,” Opiyo said.
However, ODM youth league from the Western say Governor Arati is best suited to bring fresh leadership into the party.
ODM women leaders in Homa Bay, Kisumu and Migori want Wanga picked as the deputy leader position.
Western party members feel the seat belonged to them since it was occupied by Oparanya and ODM delegates from Vihiga and Kakamega are fronting Governor Barasa, who is battling it out with Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi .
Last week, ODM delegates from Kakamega endorsed Barasa to serve as the party’s deputy leader.
This comes at a time ODM delegates from Vihiga County are throwing their weight behind Senator Godfrey Osotsi to replace Oparanya.