Orengo: Be hopeful, God can still make Raila president

Siaya governor James Orengo on Friday sold hope of a possible Raila Odinga presidency to the latter’s followers, saying that God can still make it happen if it was meant to be.

He was speaking in Ramba and Mahaya in Rarieda constituency where he warned locals against joining the Kenya Kwanza government in the guise of pursuing development.

“I want you to remain hopeful because a people without hope cannot get anywhere. A person who abandons his mother’s leaking hut for a neighbour’s glittering house is a stupid fellow,” Orengo said.

He uttered these sentiments in an apparent reference to some of the leaders from the county who have since abandoned the opposition and joined the government.

The leaders include MDG party leader and Ugenya MP David Ochieng and former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo.

“I can tell you that if it is God’s will that Raila is to become the president of the Republic of Kenya, then that will cannot be taken away. Let us keep the faith,” Orengo urged.

On his part, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo preached the need for elected leaders to remain in the political parties that sponsored them to Parliament.

“The people elected you in the party where you were because they wanted you in that party. If anything, there were UDA aspirants even in Rarieda whom the electorate could have voted for but they didn’t,” he said.

He urged leaders to respect the electorate and remain steadfast in their respective political vehicles.

“We will work with the government where necessary, cooperate but not go into submission... We will request humbly and when it comes, we take it with thanks,” he said.

Otiende said they will gladly receive the relief food that the government is set to distribute in Rarieda (Aram market) and Ugenya (Sega market) on Saturday.

The exercise is to be presided over by ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo. The CS hails from Asembo in Rarieda, Siaya County.

But Orengo said the government is mandated to protect the right to life, especially now that drought and famine have affected millions of Kenyans.