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ODM rift laid bare as Oburu Oginga seeks to mend Kakamega power struggle
Siaya Senator and ODM Party leader Oburu Oginga.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Oburu Oginga, on Sunday sought to bridge a widening rift between Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa and Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya, as rival meetings held in Kakamega County laid bare a deepening power struggle within the party’s Western Kenya stronghold.
The county played host to parallel events: the ODM Linda Ground tour at the Golf Hotel in Kakamega Town, led by Governor Barasa, and a separate gathering in Butere, spearheaded by CS Oparanya. The twin rallies, unfolding almost simultaneously, underscored the fractures threatening party unity in the region.
The situation compelled Dr Oburu to explain how he found himself in Butere earlier in the day before later joining Governor Barasa’s meeting in Kakamega Town.
“Today morning, I was called to Butere for breakfast. When I reached there, I found a crowd who told me that there were also delegates,” Dr Oburu told the gathering at the Golf Hotel.
“We spoke because they are also people of Kakamega. I was with CS Oparanya, and I brought him here so that he can assure unity in Kakamega,” he added.
Dr Oburu said he had held private engagements with both sides in an effort to calm tensions.
“I also spoke with Fernandes Barasa, and he said that he doesn’t have any issue and that Kakamega must be united,” he said.
However, the symbolic reconciliation he hoped to stage faltered. When Dr Oburu invited CS Oparanya to address the Kakamega Town meeting as a public show of unity, the CS had already departed.
Cooperatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya addressing Orange Democratic Movement supporters in Khwisero, Kakamega County on January 18,2026.
“I want the minister to come here and speak for himself,” Dr Oburu said from the podium. Moments later, an aide quietly informed him that CS Oparanya was no longer at the venue.
Governor Barasa, addressing supporters, asserted that he holds formal authority within the county’s ODM structures.
“I want to assure you that in Kakamega, ODM has only one chairman. On September 1, 2025, the people of Kakamega voted and chose me as your chairperson,” he said.
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He added that the former party leader Raila Odinga, who died in October 2025, was fully aware of his role within the party.
“Before the death of Raila Odinga, he was here in Kakamega with delegates, and by the time he was dying he knew he left a chairman in Kakamega,” Governor Barasa said.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa.
Even as he called for unity, the governor made it clear that he would not cede ground to parallel centres of power.
“We don’t want division in ODM. Kakamega is behind the party leader. As the ODM chairman in Kakamega, we have one party, and that party is ODM,” he said.
On the rift, Governor Barasa urged Mr Oparanya to publicly demonstrate his willingness to reconcile.
“I want to ask the former Kakamega Governor, Wycliffe Oparanya, to announce to the people that he is ready to unite the people of Kakamega. We agreed that the former governor should come and state publicly that he is ready to unite the people of Kakamega,” he said.
Earlier in Butere, Mr Oparanya had hosted a delegation that included ODM party officials and leaders from Kakamega County.
Butere MP Nicholas Scott Tindi Mwale defended the ODM leader’s morning stopover in the constituency.
“I can confirm to you that the party leader was in Butere for a breakfast meeting,” he said.
