Former Kisii Governor James Ongwae and ex-Woman Representative Janet Ongera have resigned from the ODM Party.
On Thursday, November 3, the duo confirmed their resignation from Raila Odinga’s Party.
“It has been an honor serving in ODM,” the two declared in a joint statement. We have no regrets, but we are moving on to the next step with a clear vision of how we may better handle our political affairs as a country before and after elections.
“We arrived at this conclusion after carefully considering the activities surrounding the last general election, particularly the ill-treatment of us and our supporters by the party through political patronage by persons who never had the interests of our community at heart,” stated Ongwae and Ongera.
Ongwae and Ongera, who briefed journalists in Kisii, have stated that their next political action will be announced soon.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 of the Holy Bible states that everything has its proper time and season, and for us, that moment is now. We will shortly release a statement outlining our upcoming political course and our strategy, they stated.
Ongera served as the Kisii Woman Representative from 2017 to 2022 whilst Ongwae served his two terms as the governor of Kisii County on the ODM platform. Ongera, a lawyer by training, was a Nominated Senator for ODM from 2013 until 2017 before competing for Woman Representative.
In the general election on August 9, 2022, Ongera ran for reelection to the Kisii Woman Representative position on the ODM ticket, but she was defeated by Doris Donya Aburi of the Wiper Party. Aburi was a former radio host at Royal Media Services Limited’s Egesa FM, a station that broadcasts in the Kisii language. In contrast to Ongera’s 69,995 votes, Aburi received 190,277 votes. On the other side, the former governor Ongwae had been an ODM supporter for about 15 years.
The former county chief’s future is still unknown, but there are signs that he might side with President William Ruto after he and Ongera visited the latter at his Karen house on September 9 of this year. Working with Ruto “would assist the residents of the Gusii region,” according to Ongera.