Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa risks disciplinary action from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party if he does not adhere to set directives, this is according to deputy party leader Godfrey Osotsi.
Speaking on Saturday, Osotsi accused Governor Barasa of failing to comply with directives issued to him during a National Executive Committee Meeting (NEC) discussing the issues plaguing Kakamega County two weeks ago.
“The Governor has been told what he is supposed to do. Same as the speaker and the majority leader. They were given two weeks which ended today,” Osotsi stated.
Noting that it was already the weekend, Osotsi told Barasa, who insisted that everything was alright in his county, that he had up until Monday to explain why he had not followed the directives.
“In those two weeks, I have not seen anything that has been achieved. The two weeks have ended today. Let’s calculate Saturday and Sunday and when it gets to Monday we will know that they were unable to follow instructions as asked,” Osotsi stated.
“The Governor has been told what he is supposed to do. Same as the speaker and the majority leader. They were given two weeks which ended today."
Osotsi further reminded the Governor, as well as other county officials, of the instructions given by the ODM party including respecting the party leader and reinstating Members of Count Assembly (MCAs) thrown out of committees back to their rightful positions.
“Those directives were as follows; Governor Barasa should respect ODM party leaders starting with the MPs, unite them, and urge them to work together for the good of the party. Two, all the cases currently in court concerning the County Assembly should be withdrawn. Thirdly, all the MPs that were removed from committees should be reinstated into the committees and we gave them two weeks," Osotsi added.
He also told the MCAs that the party leadership was aware of the conflicts going on in the county and would intervene until necessary action was taken, saying, “I would like to tell you to calm down, the party knows what is going on.”
Other leaders present also backed Osotsi’s assertions with Kakamega MP Elsie Muhanda noting that the occurrences in the county needed to be addressed soon as it would lead to a divided ODM Party.
“MCAs are still crying. They have not been reinstated into committees. If you let Kakamega continue the way it is, we will have ODM A and ODM B, and ODM B will have citizens and we do not want that split,” MP Muhanda told the press.
Siaya County Governor James Orengo on his part urged Barasa to respect top Western and ODM leaders like Wycliffe Oparanya, noting that the latter had contributed a lot, not just in Kakamega County but also in the whole nation.
“As for me, if there is someone who can disrespect Wycliffe Oparanya, they will be my enemy because Oparanya has done very important things in the party and not just in Kakamega but in the whole country.”
