ODM elected leaders in Kakamega have affirmed that the party is intact following the appointment of Wycliffe Oparanya as Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary.
The leaders, who include MPs and MCAs further assured that the party will remain united even as ODM chief Raila Odinga takes a break from local politics to focus on his campaigns for the African Union Commission chairperson seat.
Until his appointment by President William Ruto to the Cabinet, Oparanya was ODM deputy party leader. He also served as Kakamega governor for two terms.
MPs led by Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Johnston Naicca (Mumias West), Peter Oscar Nabulindo (Matungu) and Bernard Shinali (Ikolomani) expressed confidence that Governor Fernandes Barasa will steer the party as the Kakamega County chair in the absence of Oparanya and Raila.
“We are solidly together and behind the leadership of Barasa following the latest developments in our party,” Wangwe said.
He said to strengthen its presence in the county, the party has lined up a grassroots mobilisation campaign and the opening of new offices.
Youth leader Rodgers Wakhisi also slammed a former MP who recently claimed to be the Kakamega ODM chair.
He stated that the Political Parties Act 2011, clearly states that a person who, while being a member of a political party, joins another political party, is assumed to have resigned from the previous outfit.
Wakhisi discouraged party hopping saying it is creating friction in the leadership of the party.
“He is yet to denounce DAP-K but he's free to come back because we will welcome him to the party as a prodigal son,” he said.
The said former MP defected to DAP-K when ODM gave Anami Lisamula the ticket ahead of the 2022 polls.
Businessman Fred Ikana who contested on an ANC ticket trounced the incumbent and eight other candidates to win the Shinyalu parliamentary seat.
