Senator Oketch rubbishes Cherargei’s remarks to ODM on deputy president’s slot
By Mabonga Makhanu, November 18, 2025Migori Senator Eddy Oketch has come out to strongly dismiss the recent remarks made by his Nandi counterpart, Samson Cherargei, about the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party forgetting about the president and deputy president slots in 2027, dismissing him and saying he should not be taken seriously.
While speaking during a televised interview on Monday, November 18, 2025, the Migori legislator strongly condemned the senator for his remarks, dismissing them as empty talk.
While borrowing a leaf from the football arena, where he seems to have a lot of passion and is also a footballer, Oketch equated Cherargei to a vuvuzela, which is a trumpet-like object normally used by football fans to inject morale into their players and often, according to Oketch, can sometimes confuse the referee.
He went ahead to state that the only person who has a mandate to appoint a running mate or a deputy president is the head of state, and he does so because it is for him to see who he will work with better, and it is up to the president to do so, regardless of the region he chooses to settle on.
“I like football. I equate Cherargei to a vuvuzela. When you go to the football field where there is a vuvuzela, they can drown out the referee, because Cherargei’s mind is very simplistic for two reasons. One, the selection of a deputy president in any coalition is a derogation of the president.”
“Okay, you let the President look at the person that he will be able to work with better. And I think that this is something that eventually President Ruto will be able to figure out, in whichever part of the region he is bringing it in.”
He went ahead to slam Cherargei, accusing him of trying to balkanise the country into regional and tribal groups, something that, according to Eddy, the president has successfully managed to desist from.
“But secondly, people like Cherargei, actually they are people we must dissuade from this perspective—that you can keep on Balkanising our country into tribal cocoons, because he’s talking about regions, Balkan, a middle, tribal organisation that the President has successfully manoeuvred to get out of,” he added.
Cherargei’s remarks
This comes days after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, while speaking in Nandi County on Sunday, November 16, 2025, told ODM members that they continue to fully embrace the broad-based government just as their late party leader, Raila Odinga, led them into.
They should not bank on the presidential and deputy president slots since they are already reserved for William Ruto and his deputy, Kithure Kindiki, urging them to ask for other slots except the above two slots.