Leaders in Kakamega County are sharply divided over the escalating feud between Governor Fernandes Barasa and his predecessor, now Cabinet Secretary for Cooperative Development, Wycliffe Oparanya.
The dispute stems from the recent ODM County chairmanship elections, where Barasa’s allies accused Oparanya of sponsoring Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera to challenge the governor in a bid to weaken his leadership and erode ODM’s influence in Kakamega.
Barasa’s camp claims Oparanya is neglecting his national duties as a CS to interfere in local politics, while Oparanya’s supporters accuse the governor of disrespecting the former county chief and sidelining leaders allied to him.
Mayoni Ward MCA Fredrick Atitwa accused Oparanya of “lowering himself” by allegedly bankrolling Barasa’s rivals.
“You have lowered yourself to the point of abusing the governor and trying to undermine him. From today, I will address you simply as Oparanya, not as CS. You contributed over KSh10 million to Nabii Nabwera to disrupt the governor, but your plans will fail,” Atitwa said, adding that Oparanya had misled other county leaders with false promises.
“You lied to Elsie Muhanda that you would help her get the Kakamega seat. I want to tell you that you will not succeed. The seat belongs to Governor Barasa for 10 years,” Atitwa added.
Butsotso South MCA Gildon Shioso echoed the sentiments, urging Oparanya to focus on his Cabinet role.
“You finished your term as governor. Kindly refrain from interfering in county affairs. Your role now is in the national government,” Shioso said.
Deputy Governor Ayub Savula also weighed in, accusing Oparanya of using MPs to frustrate Barasa.
“We accorded you maximum cooperation during your 10 years as a governor, and we never insulted you as MPs the way you are using some MPs to insult the current governor. We are not holding anything for you that you left in the governor’s office, and when you move on, just forge ahead and let the one in office lead,” said Savula.
Governor Barasa himself cautioned his predecessor against “micromanaging” county leadership.
“You fronted Nabii to contest against me in the ODM primaries to control local leadership. I urge you to stop and focus on national matters, including pushing for development in Kakamega,” Barasa said.
However, a section of MCAs allied to Oparanya have demanded that Governor Barasa respect the CS, whom they credited with mentoring him politically.
“Barasa, keep off Oparanya. He is the one who mentored you. Stop abusing him or we will not allow it,” said Boaz Saitama, MCA for Marama West.
Nominated MCA Everlyn Shitanda accused the governor of using his deputy and allies to hurl insults at Oparanya.
“What kind of leader are you? We voted for you, but we can also take you home. Oparanya, during his 10 years as governor, never disrespected other leaders. You should emulate him,” she said.
The political rift now threatens to deepen divisions within ODM in Kakamega, a county long considered one of the party’s strongholds.
