Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot recently cautioned people against joining Siaya Governor James Orengo in his so-called new revolution against President William Ruto’s re-election in next year’s elections.
He urged the Nyanza region in particular to continue working with President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and remain in the broad-based government to apparently reap the fruits of development. The Senator argued the Orengo “revolution” would only take the community back into the Opposition.
Though Cheruiyot did not disclose the kind of “revolution” he was referring to, Orengo is part of the Linda Mwananchi (Protect the Citizen) movement leadership that seeks to make Ruto a one-term president and opposes the ODM faction led by Dr Oburu Oginga.
Since the death of Raila Odinga in October last year, and the subsequent naming of his elder brother and Siaya Senator, Oburu Oginga, to replace him as party leader, ODM has split down the middle, with one faction supporting the re-election of President Ruto while the other is seeking to remove him.
The Oburu-led faction, which is for the president’s two terms (Tutam), includes ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga and Deputy Party Leader Abdulswamad Nassir.
Orengo is leading the one-term (Wantam) team that includes ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, and MPs Babu Owino (Embakasi East); Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Caleb Amisi (Saboti), Majimbo Kalasinga (Kabuchai); Anthony Kibagendi (Kitutu Chache South), Clive Gisairo (Kitutu Masaba); and Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, among others.
Siaya Governor James Orengo addresses delegates during the People’s Delegate Convention organised by the Linda Mwananchi faction of the ODM at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on March 27, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Apart from the national push, Orengo stands out for leading opposition against Ruto in Luo Nyanza. Some key players in Linda Mwananchi are also spiritedly seeking to shift ground in Gusiiland—Kisii and Nyamira counties—in favour of Fred Matiang’i, the Jubilee Deputy Party Leader and presidential aspirant.
The Oburu team is countering the Orengo camp with the Linda Ground (Protect the Ground) movement that seeks to consolidate votes for President Ruto in ODM strongholds, particularly the Nyanza region.
“I want to caution those telling this community about a revolution…There is a debate going on in this part of the country. Orengo has been talking about revolution. And you know, Orengo has been talking about revolution from Jomo Kenyatta’s time up to now. And there is our brother Oburu, who is saying, ‘We want power to transform our people.’ So, I want to plead with you—go for power any day. Don’t be lied to about opposition,” Senator Cheruiyot told mourners during the funeral of Col (Rtd) Capt George Were in Nyakach, Kisumu, on March 14.
Cheruiyot’s “political advisory” could be seen as a recognition that Orengo is not only a political powerhouse in Luo Nyanza, irrespective of his affiliation, but could disrupt the prospects of President Ruto enjoying absolute support in the region.
Orengo, 75, may have led “revolutions” much earlier than Senator Cheruiyot could remember, perhaps since his school days at Ambira Primary School (1958–1964) and Alliance High School (1965–1970), during which he was suspended on several occasions for defying the authorities.
Since he joined politics in 1980, aged 29 years, as Ugenya MP, Orengo has been involved in major “revolutions,” including when he was part of the fiery Young Turks in the Forum for Restoration of Democracy (Ford) movement that forced the dictatorial government of President Moi to reintroduce the multi-party system in Kenya in 1991.
And in the vibrant Fourth Parliament, Orengo would be among a handful of fiery MPs against the Moi government, with Charles Njonjo, the all-powerful Minister for Constitutional Affairs, contemptuously referring to them as the Seven Bearded Sisters.
From left: Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Siaya Governor James Orengo and Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi during the People’s Delegate Convention organized by the Linda Mwananchi faction of the ODM at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on March 27, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
As the president of the influential Student Organisation of the Nairobi University (Sonu) between 1972 and 1973, Orengo had led “revolutions” against seemingly oppressive university policies and those of the Jomo Kenyatta regime. In 1972, Njonjo, the then all-powerful Attorney General, banned the use of the title “president” in associations countrywide, arguing it was reserved only for the Head of State.
But if the move was meant to tame the law student, then Njonjo was mistaken. In 1975, Orengo, having joined the Kenya School of Law, would mobilise student demonstrations countrywide against the assassination of popular Nyandarua North MP JM Kariuki in July that year. Orengo was based in Kericho town as the Kenyatta regime had directed that he undertake his pupilage outside Nairobi to prevent him from leading protests in the capital.
It is, perhaps, against this background of his radicalism that Senator Cheruiyot would issue the “advisory”.
Though the Orengo camp is yet to declare its support for any candidate in the so-called United Opposition, whose leading presidential contenders remain unclear, his influence could be a spoiler for President Ruto in ODM strongholds, in particular, the larger Nyanza region.
Mburu, a former Nation writer, is a research and communications consultant. [email protected]
