.Obado has
Image: MANUEL ODENY,
Raila Odinga's ODM could have opened a new battle front with Deputy President William Ruto when it sanctioned the impeachment of Migori governor Okoth Obado.
Ruto and Obado are very close and its understood that the two will work together to ensure Obado completes his term despite the court faces he is facing.
Obado has denied
On Tuesday, ODM MCAs forming a majority of Migori assembly met in Nairobi for what was termed as development consultative meeting, but Obado said it was an impeachment drive amid amounting legal woes.
Obado directly accused the ODM party on what he termed as a plot to impeach him before 2022.
Speaking extensively during a popular vernacular radio talk show, Obado blamed ODM of acting in bad faith citing the Tuesday summoning of all Migori MCAs which he noted is politically instigated.
He said the meeting at Orange House is suspect and is meant to drive a sinister agenda which includes removing him from office before 2022.
The architects of the impeachment – he claimed – met last Sunday and discussed at length his ouster before 2022.
“Since 2013, there is no day Migori MCAs have been summoned (by the party) for a meeting. It only happens after the Sunday meeting,” Obado said.
“They think if I stay (as Governor) for the next two years then I will go to Sugoi (Deputy President William Ruto official residence). There is a person who is pushing this divisive agenda,” he said.
Obado, while he was still a director at the defunct Kenya Sugar Board is said to have forged a close alliance Ruto who was then the Agriculture Minister, a tag that has dodged him for long.
Obado was first elected on little known People Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in 2013 and ahead of 2017 general elections he defected back to ODM where he defended his seat.
But on November 2018, after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Sharon Otieno and defying ODM pick of senator Ochilo Ayacko in the a by-election, Obado hosted Ruto in defiance.
In public rallies, where he hosted Ruto twice in Migori, Obado hinted an alliance with the DP and attacked ODM leadership, leader Raila Odinga and his handshake with president Uhuru Kenyatta before retreating back to the party fold, but has been treated with suspicion ever since.
“I would like you to condemn this so called crocodile, which some people wanted me to be swallowed with. Let us not allow this crocodile to eat us up. I am ready to work with the DP now and in future,” Obado said on November 10, 2018 at Kendege in Kuria East constituency when he hosted Ruto.
The statement never went well with Raila’s base, which was construed as crocodiles in river Jordan which prevented NASA leadership from reaching Canaan, a term in last elections.
The tag of being a Ruto’s man saw Obado being locked away from Raila’s inner circle and the ODM party circles.
On August 30, 2019 during the funeral of Bishop Joseph Ogutu Magaka, of St. John Everlasting Gospel Church in West Kanyamkago Ward, Obado’s Uriri backyard Raila openly rebuked Obado for formenting a rebellion set to divide Luos between North and South Nyanza region.
Odinga openly cautioned Obado against trying to divide the Luos politically through clans living in the four counties in Nyanza.
Odinga said that it was absurd that Obado who hails from Kanyamkago Clan in Migori and Homa Bay counties, has been pushing division between Central region Luos, in Kisumu and Siaya counties, against South region Luos, of Homa Bay and Migori counties.
“Whoever is dividing Luos between Central and South Nyanza is stupid like their mother, all Luos not only in Kenya but across Africa are one,” Odinga said, without singling out the governor openly.
Earlier, when he spoke Obado distanced himself the from rebellion in Nyanza telling Raila to “Ignore what others tell you about me, I support the handshake a hundred percent.’
Obado bitterly complained that recently, he has been kicked out of Raila’s inner circle saying he has been “left out on journey to Canaan, but whoever wants to kick me out of the boat will have to fight me.”
“Next time you (Raila) have meetings please invite me too, you have left me out completely that is why others had a chance of gossiping negatively about me,” Obado said, the calls never came.
No Vacancy
The former classroom teacher however insisted that there is no vacancy in Migori and the anti-graft court did not bar him from discharging his constitutional mandate as an elected governor.
“There is no vacancy in Migori, I will be discharging all my constitutional mandate as an elected governor. Court only barred me from accessing my office and an office is one room, I can have meetings in several places,” he said.
He described as wishful thinking anyone pushing the ouster bid saying he has faith in Migori Assembly and ‘their ability to make mature and independent decision without being coerced by any external force’
“Migori MCAs are mature and they are mature enough to make independent decisions. I doubt if they can be given a script to implement blindly,” he said.
ODM on Monday instructed Migori Assembly Majority Whip to invite all the Assembly members to Nairobi for a consultative meeting whose agenda was not specified.
“Your are kindly requested to invite all ODM members of Migori County Assembly to attend a consultative meeting with the national leadership of the party on Tuesday 1st September 2020 at the National Secretariat,” the letter by ODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen reads
In Migori, speaker Boaz Okoth was confirmed not to be attending the meeting with Majority Leader and South Sakwa MCA Ken Ouma saying the meeting only wanted MCAs allied to ODM.
"The meeting was only for ODM MCAs who were to attend, the speaker was not part of it," Ouma said.
He denied that the meeting was about impeaching Obado.
He said ODM has 40 MCAs, both elected and nominated in the Migori assembly which has a total of 57 MCAs.
Out of 40 Migori wards, ODM has 27 elected MCAs, followed by Independent MCAs who are 7, Jubilee Party has 3, Ford Kenya 2 while PPOK has one. 17 are nominated by various parties.
"Out of the number only three requested for apology because of sickness, 37 MCAs were to attend the meeting," Ouma said.
Up to the time of going to the press the number of those who attended is yet to be confirmed with claims that Obado’s men tried to bribe the MCAs before the meeting which forced to be changed from Chungwa House to a hotel.
Ends