- Oduol said that the security told him that they had express instructions that he should not attend the cabinet meeting.
- The governor's boardroom is on the second floor of the governor's office and one has to take the stairs or ramp to access it.
Image: JOSIAH ODANGA
Embattled Siaya County deputy governor William Oduol has dared his boss Governor James Orengo to lock him out of the next cabinet meeting.
While addressing journalists at a Siaya hotel Friday evening, Oduol said that he was aggrieved to have been locked out of a Cabinet meeting that took place in the governor's boardroom on Thursday.
Oduol said that he had an official invitation from the County Secretary to attend the said meeting but he was stopped by what he said was the governor's security.
Oduol said that the security told him that they had express instructions that he should not attend the cabinet meeting.
The governor's boardroom is on the second floor of the governor's office and one has to take the stairs or ramp to access it.
Oduol's office shares the same compound with the governor's but in a separate building.
"The meeting was to start at 8:00 am but the governor was still busy with some briefings with some of the county executive committee members. I left and asked the governor's secretary to let me know as soon as the meeting was convened," Oduol said.
"At around 2:00 pm, I was told that the cabinet was in session and that I needed to go but as I made my way to the governor's boardroom, I was stopped by the stairs. I returned to my office quietly because I did not want to create commotion in that particular building."
According to the deputy county boss, the cabinet meeting was meant to discuss two major issues; Supplementary Budget II and Programme-Based Budget 2023/2024.
"Those are matters of the budget which is my area of expertise. I am an accountant by training. How do you discuss them with the exclusion of an accountant who is in a position of leadership? What is your agenda?" he paused.
"Attending or not attending a cabinet meeting is not a prerogative of the governor. That is my constitutional right as an elected leader."
"I want to say that what happened yesterday is the very last that will happen in Siaya, it will not happen again," Oduol said.
He vowed that, henceforth, he will be attending all cabinet meetings except those convened in Orengo's home in Nyawara or Urenga.
"I have done a formal letter to the governor and copied the County Secretary (Joseph Ogutu) to explain what happened on Thursday."
The Star reached out to the County Secretary on the phone to clarify the issue of the exclusion of Oduol.
"Yes, there was a cabinet meeting on Thursday but I am not aware of anyone having been blocked from attending. Also, I have not received any complaint from anyone," Ogutu said.
On the contrary and according to the governor's communication director Benjamin Agina, he said the deputy governor left before Orengo's arrival.
"The deputy governor came for the cabinet meeting at the scheduled time but left for unknown reasons before the arrival of the governor," said Benjamin Agina, governor Orengo's
The alleged exclusion of Oduol from a cabinet meeting comes just a fortnight after the deputy governor submitted written evidence on alleged plunder in the county to the Siaya County Assembly for interrogation.