Publication date: February 4, 2024 08:57 (EAT)
Image of ICT CS Eliud Owalo and Siaya Governor James Orengo side by side. Photo/Courtesy.
The battle for supremacy between Siaya Governor James Orengo and ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owaro unfolded during the burial of researcher Cesar Awul Handa in Bondo constituency on Saturday.
The burial ceremony, which took place in the playground of Bal Chand Primary School, centered on a dispute over who was the leader of the gathering, between Mr. Orengo and Mr. Owalo, as pro-government and anti-government members had different protocols.
The drama is that Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda has instructed Lalieda MP and moderator Otiende Amoro to ensure that Siaya Governor James Orengo is invited to speak before the ICT Cabinet, Eliud Owalo. It started with that.
“In the interest of peace, MPs, senators, PS, governors, cabinet secretaries, we want to allow the protocol to be what it is,” Ochanda said.
However, this did not look good as Alego/Usonga Member of Parliament, Samuel Atandi, argued that there was no way CS Owolo could speak after Governor Orengo, who is an elected leader and Owolo is not. There wasn't.
Mr Atandi said Mr Ochanda was wrong given that the hierarchy requires the governor to speak last since he was elected.
When it was time to call Governor Orengo and CS Oworo to pay their condolences, Mr. Amoro decided that the Cabinet Secretary would speak first and then Governor Orengo.
He said the decision was taken considering that there are two levels of government in the country and the highest level person at the county level is the governor.
And when Eliud Owalo, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Communications, stood up to speak, he simply called for peaceful coexistence and cooperation among leaders in the Nyanza region, saying there was no need for cheap politics to divide them.
