It will be hard for Orengo and Oduol to work together, says Oburu

Siaya Deputy Governor William Oduol at parliament on Monday after senators voted to save him from impeachment. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

It will not be easy for Siaya Governor James Orengo and his deputy William Oduol to work together, according to area senator Oburu Oginga.

Oduol and Orengo have not been seeing eye-to-eye and their clash saw MCAs impeach the deputy governor, who was however let off the hook by senators on Monday when the law the lawmakers voted to save him.

Oduol survived impeachment after a majority of senators voted against the bid to remove him from office.

Some 27 senators voted against the two grounds that the Senate Special Committee probing his impeachment by the Siaya County Assembly had found to have been proven and substantiated.

The 11-member committee had recommended Oduol's removal from office on allegations of gross violation of the Constitution and abuse of office.

The team also found that the charge against the deputy governor on Gross Violation of the Constitution and other laws, on the allegation of interference with the procurement process through acts of bid-rigging, were substantiated.

The deputy governor was also found culpable on the charge of Abuse of Office and Gross Misconduct on the allegation of misleading the public by giving false information.

Following a ruling by Senate Speaker Amason Kingi that the deputy governor continues to hold office, Oburu said Oduol had indicated a poor working relationship with his boss after he accused Orengo of being incompetent and presiding over a corrupt government.

The senator, who was speaking during a talk show on a local vernacular radio station, said he had predicted the outcome of the Monday events at the Senate.

"It is not a surprise that the deputy governor relied on the Kenya Kwanza senators to get him off the hook," said Oburu.

Oburu, who added that the decision to impeach Oduol was the county assembly's, and not the ODM party's, accused Oduol of working with opponents.

"Governor Orengo has been a great critic of the Kenya Kwanza regime and seeing the senators from the ruling party voting to save the deputy governor was only meant to embarrass the governor," said Oburu.

Even though Oduol has indicated that he is ready to reconcile with his boss through the intervention of elders, church leaders and local leaders, Oburu recalled how he warned Orengo against picking Oduol as his deputy.

While recalling the happenings of the 2013 elections, Oburu who contested the Siaya gubernatorial seat, said Oduol declined to be his running mate.

"We both vied for the governor's seat and lost," said Oburu adding that despite talking to Oduol to have the issues of alleged corruption in the county addressed through local mechanisms, the deputy governor went ahead to fight the government and his boss in public.