Governor Calls on Ruto to Fire CS

Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has urged President William Ruto and Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga to restrain Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya from engaging in county and party politics, or sack him.
Speaking during a church service on Sunday, September 14, Barasa claimed that the CS has been using local leaders, such as Members of Parliament, to express his dissatisfaction with his current cabinet position to the president.
According to the governor, the CS should focus on serving the country through his position, and if he fails to deliver as expected, the president should consider dismissing him from his position.
“This CS thinks that every day he will be coming here to disturb us. We are tired now, and we want to urge the president that he should remove this burden. If he fails to work because there is no need to use a seat that was meant to unite us to destroy us,” the governor stated.
According to Barasa, the CS’s conduct has not only led to him embarrassing himself but has also led to a political shake-up within the county and the ODM party
“You were given a job through the Broad-Based Government so that you may unite the whole of the Western Region, but because he is not happy with his job, he is sending some MPs to tell the president that he wants to be the Treasury CS,” Barasa claimed.
“I want to tell the president that he must call CS Oparanya to order because here in Kakamega, we are on the ground; you cannot be coming here and interfering also with our local politics because that is embarrassing,” he added.
Oparanya was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises on August 8, 2024,during the cabinet reshuffle, after the anti-government protests.
On his part, the CS, who spoke in Kakamega on Saturday, September 13, castigated the ongoing wrangles over ODM party leadership in Kakamega County, noting that they are tarnishing the party’s reputation.
According to the CS, if divisive internal politics within the party continue, itthreatens its fitness ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
The CS, who reaffirmed his loyalty to the party, further opposed the election of Kakamega Chief as the county ODM chair in the recent elections, claiming that the elections in the county were irregular and contravened ODM protocols.
“I only left ODM leadership because I wanted to rest a little bit, but I am still an ODM member. According to the law, you cannot be a CS and an ODM  official,” Oparanya stated.
“ODM has existed since 2005. I know the procedures of our elections. I have never seen us meet to elect one person the way it was done here. What happened in Kakamega was uncalled for; it has never happened elsewhere,” he added.