Savula: Oparanya should resign if he is unable to campaign for Ruto
By Mabonga Makhanu, May 17, 2026Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula has told Cooperatives and SMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya that if he finds it difficult to campaign for President William Ruto, he should resign and go home.
While speaking to the media on Saturday, May 16, 2026, after Oparanya’s recent remarks in which he slammed the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) over Edwin Sifuna’s purge, who said the move has made campaigning for President William Ruto in Western Kenya very difficult.
Savula, who has been widely supportive of Sifuna’s removal from ODM, has come out strongly, going after Oparanya, labelling him a Raila Odinga creation who cannot do anything without the support of his late party leader. He further stated that people like Oparanya, who are Raila’s creation, should either support President William Ruto or leave.
“This Oparanya is a Raila creation. Minus Raila, those Raila babies should not cry. They should focus on the ball, and the ball is to deliver victory to William Ruto. And he is a minister; I am saying some of these ministers, if they are unable to campaign for William Ruto, should resign and go home,” he said.
Oparanya slams ODM
This comes days after Oparanya’s remarks, where he expressed disappointment with the ODM party, where he previously served as deputy party leader before his Cabinet appointment, over how it is handling dissenting voices within the party.
He stated that the move to strip Sifuna of his secretary general position was wrong and had weakened the party.
He added that it has become impossible to support President William Ruto on the ground because, according to him, everywhere he goes, he is asked why Sifuna was removed. He told the party that this is not how the late Raila Odinga used to handle dissent, as he was accommodating and listened to everyone’s opinion.
“Hii kitu ya kufukuza watu imefanya kazi yetu ya kutafutia Rais kura kuwa ngumu”, he said.
On the other side, Savula, despite being a member of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) days after decamping from the Democratic Action Party (DAP-K), where he served as deputy party leader, has been vocal about Sifuna’s removal, urging the party to do away with him, saying he was derailing the party’s progress and support for William Ruto ahead of 2027.
Barasa slams Oparanya
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa also recently came out to take a swipe at Oparanya, telling him that if he cannot effectively sell the government agenda in ODM strongholds, he should resign as well.
Political analyst Martin Oloo has also come out to back Oparanya, saying that the former governor is telling the truth and that ODM cannot easily be sold in Western Kenya.