Homa Bay county gets new deputy governor

Homa Bay Deputy Governor Danish Onyango during the swearing-in at the county headquarters on August 13, 2026. [James Omoro, Standard]

Homa Bay residents now have a new deputy governor after the office remained vacant for about six months.

The office was left vacant following the resignation of former Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga on February 26, 2026.

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has picked Danish Onyango to be the next deputy governor. Wanga also appointed two County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) Isaac Ongiri and Obiny Dede to head the Governance and Trade Departments, respectively.

Wanga nominated the three on March 17, 2026. However, their swearing-in suffered a setback after human rights defenders filed a case in the Employment and Labour Relations court to challenge the nominations. But the court quashed the petition.

On Thursday, Onyango and the two CECMs were sworn into office by High Court Judge Patrick Otieno at the county headquarters.

Onyango promised to serve the people of Homa Bay diligently.

He pledged to serve with dedication and ensure efficient service delivery.

“I assure the people of Homa Bay that I will collaborate and be obedient to Governor Wanga to enable us to achieve the development agenda of this county,” Onyango said.

Former Journalist Ongiri pledged to improve service delivery to the people.

“This is a great honour. I will use this opportunity to serve the people diligently,” he said.

Governor Wanga witnessed the swearing-in of the new deputy governor and ministers.

“This ceremony suffered impediments before, but I thank God that it has taken place. Let us now deliver services to the people of Homa Bay,” Wanga said.

She said her administration was committed to undertaking various development projects to transform the lives of residents.

“We have done ECDE classrooms, water projects, roads and other projects which are improving the lives of residents. We continue to implement other projects to transform lives in our county,” Wanga said.

Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma urged the new county officials to support Wanga’s government.

“We had a deputy governor who was pulling in a different direction from his governor. Let us be supportive of the county government,” Kaluma said.