Firebrand politician James Orengo is increasingly being isolated by close allies of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga for being a fierce critic of the broad-based government.
The sustained onslaught against the Siaya county governor by the ODM brigade played out during President William Ruto’s first day in Migori in his ongoing three-day working tour of the opposition region.
Although Mr Odinga recently tried to defend Mr Orengo over his position against the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ODM and Dr Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), a warning by Mr Odinga’s elder brother, Oburu Oginga, that the governor should leave the party if he is opposed to the political truce lent credence to a growing isolation of the county boss within the outfit.
Oburu: We are in broad-based government as ODM, not as individuals
Mr Orengo has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the working arrangement between President Ruto and Mr Odinga.
“When my governor stands up and says he is annoyed, I don’t know with whom, and claims he just wants to speak the truth, I ask myself: what truth? Those who think this broad-based government is wrong are vomiting on us from within. Why don’t they step outside and vomit there?” Mr Oburu, the Siaya Senator, posed.
"If you want to fight there is a space where you can do that, for us, our people are waiting for these services. It is our time to work and our people are waiting for it and not to eat anybody's shares," he added.
Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning John Mbadi said the region should ignore Governor Orengo, saying those in support of the broad-based are the ones speaking Mr Odinga’s mind.
“If you want to read Raila’s political mood, listen to Oburu, Junet, and me. We are moving forward, not backward,” said Mr Mbadi.
Migori Governor Ochilo Ayacko, Uriri MP Mark Nyamita and his Alego Usonga counterpart Samuel Atandi also appeared to be reading from the same script, openly telling off Governor Orengo.
It would not be the first time the vocal politician is taking a different political path, having in the past severed links with Mr Odinga, in decisions that some later turned costly for his political ambition.
Nyanza professionals accuse Orengo of undermining Ruto-Raila pact
Having been first elected to Parliament in 1980, Mr Orengo has had an on-and-off political relationship with Mr Odinga. Rivalry between the two politicians first played out during the leadership struggle over the control of Ford-Kenya following the death of Jaramogi Oginga.
In the power struggle, Mr Orengo sided with the late Kijana Wamalwa against Mr Odinga. The power struggle would run for about two years before Mr Odinga decamped and formed his National Development Party.
The struggle in Ford Kenya after the death of Jaramogi was also an indication of another struggle over who was to succeed Jaramogi as the Luo leader between Mr Odinga and Mr Orengo. Having been a close confidant of the late Jaramogi, Mr Orengo believed he was the best bet in becoming the region’s kingpin.
Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga (right), accompanied by Siaya Governor James Orengo, during a relief food distribution exercise to flood victims at Muhondo grounds in Alego-Usonga in Siaya.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
In the subsequent 1997, Mr Orengo was elected on Ford-K ticket while Mr Odinga was elected as an MP in his new party.
The rivalry between the two also played out in 2002 when Mr Orengo again went against Mr Odinga by running for the presidency of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he finished a distant fourth. In the election, Mr Odinga backed Mwai Kibaki who won the newly formed National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
Mr Orengo would later remain in the political cold until 2007 when he joined Mr Odinga, who ran against President Mwai Kibaki. The presidential election result was disputed leading to the formation of grand coalition government in which Mr Odinga appointed him Minister of Lands, serving from 2008 to 2013.
He has since remained in Mr Odinga’s fold, and served as Siaya Senator for two terms from 2013 to 2022 before being elected governor during the August 2022 general election.
But following the signing of MoU between ODM and UDA in March, Mr Orengo has sustained an onslaught against the political arrangement between President Ruto and Mr Odinga.
“We are setting a bad precedent in our country in the name of signing post poll pacts. I want a situation where in future, if Raila is not on the ballot, our grandchildren can contest and win elections or lose. Let them lose fairly but not because of a bad precedent set by us,” said Mr Orengo at the weekend.
Siaya Governor James Orengo speaks at Bukiri Primary School, Funyula, Busia County on February 28, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
“I have worked with all the presidents of this country and believe me when I tell you the country is on a bad trajectory. I worked with Argwings Kodhek, I saw the late Tom Mboya try making things work in this country before he was killed; I worked with Presidents Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and now President William Ruto,” he noted further.
During Mr Odinga’s bodyguard burial, attended by both Mr Odinga and President Ruto, Mr Orengo went on a tirade against the broad-based government.
“…I urge you, praise singing will not take us anywhere, I urge you to tell your leader the truth. I don’t do song praise. This country will go to the dogs again if the kind of language I’m hearing here continues. If we have something being brought to Siaya, it is a matter of right, not that we are being given as a favour,” Mr Orengo charged at the president during the burial in Siaya on April 12.
“Broad-based government is needed in nations that are divided. Out of respect, you've put your differences aside and work for the country. I apologise for my colleagues who are against the agreement,” Mr Ayacko said.
Uriri MP Mark Nyamita, however, observed that the predictable script has always been sustained by individuals who can only win elections when Mr Odinga is on the ballot.
“There are a bunch of politicians who believe that when Baba is not on the ticket to lift their hands, then they have no chance of survival. That is why even when Baba (Raila) has shown the way that we work in this broad-based arrangement, some are out there trying to fight it,” said Mr Nyamita.
Mr Atandi also accused Mr Orengo of undermining the new alliance. He said the position taken by Mr Orengo is designed to block the region from benefiting from development by the national government.
“Some leaders in this community are promising they are ready to go back to jail or to the streets. But let us be honest, some of them are so advanced in age that if they go to jail they will not come out,” Mr Atandi said in reference to Mr Orengo.
