Governor Obado in trouble with colleagues over BBI meetings

The County's leaders want Governor Okoth Obado (pictured) to publicly declare his stand on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) after he was sidelined from a forum planned for Friday by Nyanza governors.

While governors elected on the Orange Democratic Movement ticket from Nyanza are planning to host rallies to drum up support for BBI, Mr Obado (pictured) has been missing in action.

The leaders said they became suspicious after Obado’s name was not included in a poster promoting a meeting slated for Kisii on January 10.

It will be addressed by governors from Kisii, Nyamira, Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay counties.

Governors James Ongwae (Kisii), John Nyagarama (Nyamira), Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu), Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay) and Cornel Rasanga (Siaya) are expected to attend.

All the five governors have their pictures printed on the posters. Obado’s image is missing.

Futile efforts

Efforts to reach Obado were futile, as calls to his phones went unanswered. Some of his handlers who answered a call briefly claimed he was busy in a meeting and would revert later.

On Tuesday, Obado, through his political advisor Dennis Orero, described his exclusion from the poster promoting the event as political mischief.

“We have responded to this matter adequately. Mr Obado is fully involved in the BBI campaigns and I think it was just a mistake that his name is not in the poster,” said Mr Orero.

Orero affirmed that the Migori governor would attend the Kisii BBI meeting and join his colleagues despite the growing political discord among some ODM members.

But the fact that Obado missed a governors’ planning meeting in Kisumu last week raised concerns among party supporters and Migori leaders, who now want him to declare his stand.

They comprise nominated MP.