Kisumu County Senator Tom Ojienda on Thursday, May 8, 2025, termed the Nyanza as a marginalized region in Kenya.

 The senator made the remarks during a TV show while defending Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi from claims of favouring the interests of the region that has spent most of its political years in the opposition trenches.

The allegations arose on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, after the CS snubbed a summon to appear before the senate, with a section of the senators, including Nairobi’s Edwin Sifuna, taking issue with his conduct.

Ojienda, while citing an increase in allocations of revenue share of Kisumu and Migori Counties, stated that the CS’s focus on the region is warranted and meant to open up the region further.

 “For the first time since the advent of devolution, Kisumu and Migori have received allocations of Ksh70 billion, and we now see actual funds for projects that are live going to a region that hardly received projects and that were marginalised,” he stated.

Ojienda further challenged the Nairobi senator to support the plans of the CSs, which are meant to benefit the entire western region in turn.

The lawyer cited the Lake Victoria road network meant to benefit a total of 14 counties around the larger western region.

“So Sifuna should not speak the way he spoke in the senate, accusing Mbadi of focusing on the interests of Nyanza. He must focus on those interests as we have been marginalised,” he added.

“It is not an ethnic question; it is a regional issue, where a marginalized region must be brought to the same level as others. It is what Mbadi spoke to. For instance, the Lake Victoria road network region will benefit all the way from Nyamira all the way to Western.

“Sifuna is from the western region even as he represents Nairobi. He should be happy Mbadi is opening up the western region for him,” he opined.

Ojienda, who is a vocal proponent of the broad-based government, further hailed the philosophy behind the new arrangement in aiding the regions’ quest to catch up with others.

He says those comprehending the foundations that informed the premise on which President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga signed the deal understand its role in helping the region’s growth.