I deserve to be Ruto’s number two – Oburu Oginga declares at State House

Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga on Tuesday, August 4, publicly declared that he deserves the “number two” position, saying he was more than qualified to occupy it.  

Speaking during President William Ruto’s engagement with village elders at State House, Nairobi, Oburu argued that the deputy president position should be open for negotiation, questioning why he could not occupy it and insisting that he had what it takes.

“Particularly the number two position. Don’t you think I deserve to be number two? Can’t I be number two? I am more than qualified,” Oburu mentioned.  

The Senator made the remarks after saying ODM would not field its own presidential candidate and would instead back President William Ruto’s re-election bid, adding that all positions in the broad-based arrangement, apart from the presidency, remained open for negotiation.

“At this time, we, in ODM, will not have a presidential candidate. Our candidate is William Ruto. All the other positions are negotiable,” the ODM party leader stated. 

His remarks come two days after he defended ODM’s zoning strategy, insisting that the party should safeguard its traditional political strongholds while opposing UDA’s expansion into Homa Bay County.

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Speaking on Sunday, August 2, the Siaya senator questioned critics of zoning, arguing that areas where ODM has established political support should remain under the party’s control.

“Some people say they don’t want zoning. If you don’t want zoning, then what do you want? We want zoning because Homa Bay is our zone. We don’t want UDA in Homa Bay,” Oginga affirmed. 

Oburu said areas where ODM has elected governors, Members of Parliament and Members of County Assembly automatically qualify as the party’s political zones. 

“We start with our areas where we have strongholds, where we have our governors, where we have our MPs and where we have our MCAs. Those are our zones automatically without negotiation,” he added.

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