Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has emerged as the Orange Democratic Movement's preferred candidate for the presidential running mate position after months of internal lobbying and deliberations within the party.
This comes as the Orange party seeks to raise its stakes ahead of negotiations with UDA in preparation for the 2027 election.
Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, who had been eyeing the position, have since been pushed to the periphery, with the latest focus being on Mr Oparanya.
Ms Wanga, who has consistently ranked as the preferred choice to deputise President William Ruto in opinion polls, has since shifted her focus to her re-election campaign.
Mr Joho and his Coastal allies have also since gone slow on the presidential running mate debate, with the CS focusing on campaigning for President Ruto’s reelection.
Co-operatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya (left) and his Treasury counterpart John Mbadi follow proceedings during ODM party officials’ retreat at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa May 4, 2026.
Mr Oparanya comes from the Western region, where Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna also hails from. Mr Sifuna is widely seen within the opposition as a potential presidential candidate to challenge President Ruto in next year's election.
The decision to fully back Mr Oparanya is said to have been first floated when the Cs met ODM party leader Dr Oburu Oginga and a host of Kakamega MPs in May after he threatened to leave the party citing neglect.
At the time, the 10 elected ODM MPs had given the party activities a wide berth and were being convinced to join and defend their seats on UDA.
According to Khwisero MP Christopher Aseka ‘Miradi ’, they felt ODM had sidelined Mr Oparanya, and the meeting with Dr Oginga even helped iron out the differences within the party.
“At that time Mr Oparanya was being sidelined, and things were not good for the party, but we have since mended fences, and as ODM MPs we are now focused on seeing him as President Ruto’s running mate. We protested that our Nyanza counterparts had sidelined us, yet when Raila was alive, our region was the bedrock of his political support,” said Mr Aseka in an interview with Nation.
Prior to the May meeting, the Cs had angrily protested that Dr Oginga and Luo Nyanza were hell-bent on benefitting from the government more than the Western regional bloc.
Having also served as ODM deputy party leader, Mr Oparanya had on April 25, during a function in Kakamega, threatened to leave the party, claiming that the Western region was being sidelined by the Linda Ground camp.
“We have supported Raila Odinga wholeheartedly, and that should not be taken for granted. We must now assess what the people of Western Kenya stand to gain from ODM. If that does not happen, then we will have no option but to say goodbye,” he said at the time.
“It is now our time as Western leaders. We cannot be sidelined while others jostle for power following Raila’s exit from active leadership. We, too, deserve a share of that power,” he added.
Mr Aseka says the series of meetings Mr Oparanya has held with Dr Oginga and various leaders in the party has given him an edge, and that is why ODM has agreed to front him.
“The party was dying, but since he was embraced, the party is now alive and active again in Western. Look at the meetings we have held; we are well received, and even the warring factions have since been united,” added the second-term MP.
After being given the nod as the best bet for President Ruto’s running mate, the party has since tasked Minority Leader Junnet Mohamed to lead campaigns for Mr Oparanya so that he can be accepted across the board.
During a rally in Malava constituency, Mr Mohamed hinted that ODM has to get the deputy presidency if UDA presents President Ruto.
“People should understand that leadership follows a process. Oparanya is the leader who can guide Western Kenya in ODM after Oburu Oginga. If UDA produces the presidential candidate, ODM deserves the deputy president's position, and that should go to Oparanya," said Mr Mohamed.
Butere MP Tindi Mwale, who is Mr Oparanya’s MP on the other hand, has urged Western to accept the CS as a running mate in anticipation of 2032 when the region will have a good shot at the Presidency.
President William Ruto (left) interacts with Co-operatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya during a joint Cabinet and Principal Secretaries meeting at State House, Nairobi, on August 12, 2024. With them are PSs Susan Mang'eni and Abdi Dubat.
Photo credit: PCS
“We are firmly in government, and Oparanya deserves the deputy president's seat. After next year, we shall have the deputy presidents coming from here, then we will get the top seat in 2032," says Mr Mwale.
Mr Oparanya is also believed to have got full backing during a meeting hosted by Dr Oginga and attended by Mr Joho, Treasury CS John Mbadi, his energy counterpart Opiyo Wandayi, Mr Mohamed and ODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen.
It is from that July 2 meeting that Mr Mohamed has been a vocal supporter of Mr Oparanya’s running mate bid.
The lack of a formidable aspirant for the Nairobi Governorship has also been a blessing in disguise for Mr Oparanya.
Recently, Dr Oginga met Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi and implored him to return and vie in Nairobi, but the MP declined, having switched his political base to Bungoma, where he is facing fierce competition from Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa.
Sirisia MP John Waluke, who supports Mr Wanyonyi, told Nation that the MP met with Dr Oginga but refused to come back to city politics.
“Tim met Oburu and ODM wanted him to vie for governor in Nairobi, but he declined, considering his campaigns in Bungoma had already taken off,” said Mr Waluke, who, together with Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama, have been supporting the third term Westlands MP bid to become Bungoma governor.
ODM has been feeling that the least they can settle on is Nairobi Governorship if the party misses out on the deputy president post.
“Nairobi governor seat should be given to ODM. There is no shortcut about that," Makadara MP George Aladwa recently said in Nairobi.
