Kisumu, September 13 — Ugenya MP David Ochieng has urged President William Ruto to give his Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) room to compete openly against ODM in Nyanza, arguing the move would strengthen, not weaken, the President’s hand in the region.
Ochieng said Nyanza has for too long been treated as a one-party fiefdom, with ODM handed exclusive control of the region in exchange for political loyalty — an arrangement he says has choked competition and left voters with no real alternative.
He argued that a freely competing MDG would actually work in Ruto’s favour by giving voters disillusioned with ODM, but not yet ready to join UDA outright, a genuine local alternative to turn to. As a homegrown party rooted in Siaya and the wider Nyanza region, Ochieng said MDG can speak to local concerns in a language residents understand while still aligning with the government’s broad-based agenda.
Political competition, he insisted, does not have to mean hostility. Instead, he framed a contest between MDG and ODM as a net gain for Ruto: two parties racing to outdo each other in delivering development and demonstrating loyalty to the government, rather than the President depending on a single, historically hostile and unpredictable partner.
Ochieng said opening the field would ultimately diversify Ruto’s coalition in Nyanza, giving him “more options and more foot soldiers on the ground” heading into his second-term bid, rather than betting everything on ODM alone.