ODM deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya has said he is ready to leave Raila Odinga’s party ahead of the 2022 General Election.
The Kakamega Governor who has been rooting for the unity of the Luyha community said he was ready to ditch the Opposition outfit if ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula dissolve their parties to form a regional political party.
“I am ready to leave ODM if Mudavadi and Wetang’ula dissolve their parties to form a party that will unite all the Luhyas,” Governor Oparanya said.
The former Council of Governor’s chair told the Standard that he has been persuading the One Kenya Alliance principals to fold their parties in search of the elusive Luhya unity.
The second-term governor further said Mudavadi, who is angling to be the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) flag bearer in the 2022 presidential elections, will not win unless he unites the Luyha community.
He said the unity of the Luyha can only be achieved if the region can have one strong party which would then guarantee that the Western side will vote as a bloc.
Oparanya’s remarks come barely a day after the former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale urged the duo to fold their outfits and form one strong political party the Luyha community will use to negotiate for power at the national level.
Khalwale who is hoping to make a political comeback as the next governor of Kakamega, advised the former Vice President and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula, that the only way to form the government was to have a unified Luhya vote.
“You will keep on wasting time on small village parties, yet those who will be leading the country will be those that have national parties,” Khalwale said.
