Siaya Governor James Orengo had vowed he would not join the “praise and worship” of the Kenya Kwanza government.
Siaya Governor James Orengo – who had declared that development projects require no kneeling down – will Thursday, June 5, lead a delegation to State House to lobby the same.
The move is a major climb down by the firebrand politician, who has publicly insisted that national government projects are a matter of right to every region and should not be doled out on the basis of lobbying and praise singing.
Mr Orengo has been one of the fiercest critics of President Ruto’s administration while at the same time castigating his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) colleagues of becoming court poets following the formation of the broad-based government.
His recent outbursts and criticism of the broad-based government placed him in a collision path with Members of Parliament from the county as well as Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, who also hails from the region.
But in a major sign of submission, Mr Orengo was on Wednesday holding engagements in readiness for the meeting with President Ruto. He held a meeting with National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.
Some of the elected leaders from the county had another meeting on Tuesday in Nairobi to firm up a list of projects for discussion, according to Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda.
“Held discussions with CS John Mbadi on development priorities in Siaya ahead of tomorrow's (Thursday) meeting with President Ruto together with a delegation of Siaya leaders,” said Mr Orengo in a post on his Facebook account. He did not respond to our further inquiry over the planned meeting and the perceived change of stance.
Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda.
National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson Samuel Atandi (MP, Alego Usonga) told the Nation that the State House meeting was convened following an intervention by Mr Wandayi.
“We are yet to resolve our political issues with the governor, but we have agreed to close ranks and lobby for national government projects,” said Mr Atandi.
“He has been calling some of us a praise team because of our lobbying for projects. Now he has joined us. We will keep on reminding him that development projects are lobbied for,” he said.
Mr Orengo went on a tirade against the broad-based government during Mr Odinga’s bodyguard burial on April 12, in an event that was attended by both President Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
"No song praise"
“…I urge you, praise singing will not take us anywhere, I urge you to tell your leader the truth. I don’t do song praise. This country will go to the dogs again if the kind of language I’m hearing here continues. If we have something being brought to Siaya, it is a matter of right, not that we are being given as a favour,” Mr Orengo charged.
But barely days after the outburst, Mr Orengo would on April 17, 2025, write to the President to “respectfully’ asked for a consultative meeting between a delegation from Siaya and the President to discuss ‘key development matters’ affecting the county.
In the letter to President Ruto, Mr Orengo proposed the last week of April for the consultative meeting.
“I write to respectfully request an audience with you on behalf of county government of Siaya and delegation of leaders from Siaya county comprising of Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries hailing from Siaya County, all Members of Parliament from the county, the Speaker and Members of the Siaya County Assembly Leadership and the members of the Siaya County Executive Committee,” Mr Orengo said in the letter.
The purpose of the meeting, according to the letter, was to engage the President on key development matters affecting the county and to explore collaborative pathways that the two levels of government can work jointly to accelerate socio-economic growth.
“We kindly propose the last week of April 2025 for this engagement, but we remain fully amenable to a date and time that may be convenient to your calendar. We are confident that this engagement will mark a significant step forward in the spirit of national unity, inclusivity, and service delivery to the citizens of Siaya County and Kenya at large,” he went on.
ODM leader Raila Odinga (left) with Siaya Senator James Orengo during a past national function.
The request was reportedly rejected even as he became under coordinated attack by some of Mr Odinga’s allies. Mr Odinga has, however, in some instances defended him from the onslaught.
During Dr Ruto’s Migori tour in early May, Mr Odinga’s elder brother, Oburu Oginga, dared the governor to leave the party if he is opposed to the political truce between ODM and UDA.
“When my governor stands up and says he is annoyed, I don’t know with whom, and claims he just wants to speak the truth, I ask myself: what truth? Those who think this broad-based government is wrong are vomiting on us from within. Why don’t they step outside and vomit there?” posed Mr Oburu, the Siaya Senator.
Having been first elected to Parliament in 1980, Mr Orengo has had an on-and-off political relationship with Mr Odinga. Rivalry between the two veteran politicians first played out during the leadership struggle for the control of Ford-Kenya following the death of Jaramogi Oginga.
In the power struggle, Mr Orengo sided with the late Kijana Wamalwa against Mr Odinga. The power struggle would run for about two years before Mr Odinga decamped and formed his National Development Party.
The struggle in Ford Kenya was poisoned with the jostling over who was to succeed Jaramogi as the Luo kingpin between Mr Odinga and Mr Orengo.
Having been a close confidant of the late Jaramogi, Mr Orengo believed he was the best bet in becoming the region’s kingpin. In the subsequent 1997, Mr Orengo was elected on Ford-K ticket while Mr Odinga was elected as an MP in his new party.
The rivalry between the two also played out in 2002 when Mr Orengo again went against Mr Odinga by running for the presidency on the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he finished a distant fourth.
In the election, Mr Odinga backed Mwai Kibaki who won under the newly formed National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
Mr Orengo would later remain in the political cold until 2007 when he joined Mr Odinga, who ran against President Mwai Kibaki. The presidential election result was disputed leading to the formation of grand coalition government in which Mr Odinga appointed Mr Orengo as Minister of Lands, serving from 2008 to 2013
He has since remained in Mr Odinga’s fold, and served as Siaya Senator for two terms from 2013 to 2022 before being elected governor during the August 2022 general election.
