Gakuya slams Governor Wanga for stripping her deputy of CEC role
By Faith Lagat, December 2, 2025Embakasi North Member of Parliament James Gakuya has criticised Governor Gladys Wanga’s decision to strip her deputy, Oyugi Magwanga, of his docket as County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.
An act that comes barely a week after Magwanga openly defied the ODM party line by backing independent candidate Philip Aroko in the recently concluded Kasipul parliamentary by-election.
The governor’s office confirmed that Danish Onyango, the CEC for Roads, Public Works, Transport and Infrastructure, will now double up as acting CEC for the agriculture docket. In the same reshuffle, Peter Ogolla, a known Magwanga ally heading Lands, Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development, was replaced by Joseph Mitito.
Gakuya calls out overreach
Speaking during an interview with a local television station on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, Gakuya launched a scathing attack on Wanga’s move to lock Magwanga out of his office and strip him of executive responsibilities without following due process.
“Wanga knows very well that broad-based, which she sings every day, is not in the law and therefore she cannot be the first person to throw a stone at her deputy, as much as she recognises that there is broad-based, she must also know that her deputy also has freedom to choose,” Gakuya said.
He insisted that the deputy governor is an elected leader in his own right and not a subordinate who can be punished at the governor’s whim.
“The deputy governor is not there as a puppet therefore the process that requires that deputy to be punished is well known,” he added.
Constitutional route, political fallout
Gakuya outlined the constitutional procedure, saying, “She has to throw the ball to the county chamber to decide on the fate of the deputy but not herself, after that the senate to decide whether it is on correct order or not.”
He further accused Wanga of arrogance, stating, “But Wanga shouldn’t have locked the deputy outside because that is making herself a small god that the deputy is a puppet and has to kneel to her which is very wrong.”
The recent fallout revives memories of the bitter 2022 ODM gubernatorial nominations that pitted Wanga against Magwanga until party leader Raila Odinga brokered a truce that saw Wanga take the top seat and Magwanga settle for the deputy slot. What was presented as a “broad-based” unity ticket now appears to be collapsing over party loyalty and political ambition ahead of 2027.