Subdued but strategic: Orengo bags billions for Siaya in rare Ruto meet

Governor Orengo with President Ruto at State House discussing Siaya development on June 5, 2025. [Courtesy, PCS] Siaya Governor James Orengo yesterday won big as he bagged multi-billion projects for his county after leading a delegation to meet President William Ruto at State House. For a man who had maintained that development projects do not need lobbying from the government but are a matter of right for all Kenyans, he presented a list of projects he hoped the national government would execute in his backyard. Orengo cited the provisions of the constitution to defend meeting Ruto and claimed that such meetings reinforce constitutional ideals of the country. But as he pitched the need for the national government not to sideline his backyard, President Ruto also rallied the region to support his administration and promised to visit the region soon. Observers believe the meeting was a win-win situation for both Ruto and Orengo. On one end, Ruto is bleeding to put the entire Nyanza in his fold with the backing of Raila, while on another front, Orengo is also keen to calm the tensions of backlash that had emerged over his opposition to Ruto's leadership. Ruto emphasised how his union with ODM leader Raila Odinga has helped him steady his administrative ship, arguing that he was optimistic that the region would continue to support him. While speaking in parables, Ruto claimed that there was no need for the region to look for something that they have already achieved. His statement loosely alluded to his new working relationship with Raila that has guaranteed the region support from the government. Yesterday, insiders who attended the meeting confided to The Standard that while Orengo did not pledge any allegiance to the government, he appeared subdued. "He steered away from politics and only restricted himself to the Memorandum of Understanding that leaders from Siaya had developed," said a leader who attended the meeting. Tough questions, however, remain whether the union built on quick sand by Siaya leaders that saw them meet the president will hold after some of the speakers indirectly attacked Orengo. The leaders, some of whom Orengo had branded as choir masters of a rogue regime in the recent past, claimed all leaders from the region need to fall in line behind Ruto and support his administration. In his speech, Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi claimed Siaya leaders must now stop speaking the language of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Gachagua, a fierce critic of his former boss, is among the leaders who have stepped up efforts to discredit Ruto's leadership. In Nyanza, Orengo is among the few dissenting voices that have been openly critical of the Kenya Kwanza leadership. In his speech, Atandi claimed that the president meant well for Nyanza and all leaders should back him. According to Senator Oburu Oginga, any noise from their backyard was bound to derail development, and he pleaded with the leaders to support the government. Similarly, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi also appeared to suggest that the region was ready to support Ruto's re-election bid because of how he has treated the region since they mended fences with him. "The president has demonstrated utmost sincerity with our community," he said, adding that they will not forget him at the appropriate time. Ruto said the government will build 16 markets in the county at Sh2.5 billion, while Sh1.6 billion has been set aside for the last-mile electricity programme to connect 16,000 households. He announced that the government will further invest Sh1 billion to develop blue economy infrastructure, including Usenge Pier and attendant port facilities at KSh600 million and a fish market at Sh400 million. "We are looking for another Sh500 million to enable us to connect another 5,000 households to electricity," Ruto said in a statement to Newsrooms. In agriculture, the President explained that Siaya, among other counties, would benefit from the government's revival programme of cotton farming, a sector that holds great potential to create thousands of jobs and incomes for farmers. "We export $500 million (Sh65 billion) worth of textile products to the United States annually, but we import most of the textiles used to make the garments. This must change," he said. The President disclosed that the African Export-Import Bank (Afriexim) would inject an initial Sh20 billion to revive the cotton industry. On the expansion of Odera Akang'o University, President Ruto said the government would finalise the plan to acquire more land for the institution, and at the same time, complete stalled infrastructure projects at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. He expressed his gratitude to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for agreeing to work with him in the broad-based government. "Whenever we have found ourselves at a crossroads as a country, Baba, being the great statesman that he is, has always taken bold decisions in the best interest of this nation," Ruto said, adding, "Our transformative programs, including the leasing of public sugar factories to make them profitable, would not have been possible without the broad-based government," he said. In his last week's visit to Nyanza, Ruto skipped Siaya, with residents and observers believing the move was a result of Orengo's persistent criticisms of the Kenya Kwanza government.

Subdued but strategic: Orengo bags billions for Siaya in rare Ruto meet

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Subdued but strategic: Orengo bags billions for Siaya in rare Ruto meet

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