A section of ODM Leaders in Trans Nzoia County has accused former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya of short-changing them.
The officials have threatened to disown him as the ODM Deputy Party leader.
Led by branch Secretary General John Simiyu, the Orange party officials claim Oparanya short-changed them during negotiations for the Trans Nzoia gubernatorial candidate.
The negotiations saw an ODM candidate step down in favour of Governor George Natembeya who was the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) candidate.
According to the branch officials, Natembeya was to appoint some of the ODM officials to his administration but the posts have since benefited individuals from Kakamega County.
“Oparanya was tasked with negotiating for us but ended up just looking after his affairs; bringing in non-Trans Nzoians to take up our posts at the county government,” Simiyu said.
Plum county jobs
The Trans Nzoia ODM officials argue that their candidate stepped down in exchange for plum county jobs which ended up being awarded to individuals they claim were fronted by Oparanya.
“We were assured of plum positions in the county government but he (Oparanya) ended up as the chief negotiator – awarding the positions to people from Kakamega County,” noted Simiyu.
Similar sentiments were shared by Reuben Chebai, an ODM member in the county who asked the former county boss to keep off from Trans Nzoia party affairs.
“We want him to leave alone our party and let us run it from Trans Nzoia County and manage our affairs,” Chebai said.
The officials also threatened to ignore any directions from the party that would be issued by Oparanya.
“This is our branch and we will manage it from Kitale and not Kakamega. Oparanya should respect us and leave us alone to do our affairs,” said Naomi Okul, the party’s branch women leader.
The leaders spoke at Waitaluk area in Trans Nzoia West where they also revealed that they had embarked on a program to strengthen the Orange party.
ODM popularity in Trans Nzoia
They said the party had lost popularity in the county due to it being micro-managed from the Western region yet Trans Nzoia was in the larger Rift Valley region.
“We are losing members due to this quagmire and selfishness of our national leaders and we will not tolerate it anymore. We want our party back,” noted one of the officials.
In addition, they said that they will field candidates in all elective seats during the 2027 general election.
In the 2022 polls, ODM gubernatorial aspirant Moses Khaoya dropped out of the race in favour of Natembeya who eventually won the seat.
But Oparanya dismissed claims raised against him accusing the said officials of being part of individuals out to taint the image of the party.
He dared them to quit if unhappy with the current ODM top leadership.
