KISUMU, Kenya, Sep 7 — Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya has convened elected and nominated leaders from Western Kenya in Kisumu to chart a common political and development agenda for the region ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Oparanya said the meeting brought together more than twenty-two leaders to deliberate on the region’s political situation and development priorities, with a particular focus on issues falling under his ministry, including coffee and savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs).
“We are here as leaders from the western region to discuss issues concerning our community,” Oparanya told journalists after the first session of the meeting.
He said the leaders were also reviewing the region’s development agenda and identifying areas that require greater attention, including the cooperative sector.
“Especially on the development agenda, as a ministry in charge of cooperatives, we are also looking at the issues that are within my ministry—issues of coffee, issues of SACCOs—and that’s why we have arranged for this meeting,” he said.
Oparanya said the leaders had completed their first session and would hold a second session before issuing a comprehensive resolution on the issues discussed.
“We are going to have a second session, and out of the second session, we will be able to issue a comprehensive resolution agreed by these leaders,” he said.
Leaders back Ruto
The meeting also emerged as a platform for mobilising political support for President William Ruto’s re-election, with Oparanya saying the leaders present were backing the President for a second term.
“All leaders you see here, all leaders you see here, they are campaigning for His Excellency the President for two terms—a second term,” Oparanya said.
He said the leaders were “fully behind His Excellency William Ruto for his reelection.”
Oparanya said the leaders were deliberately keeping their discussions focused on the presidency rather than individual parliamentary contests.
“So it should be clear, and we are not interested so far in individual seats,” he said.
He acknowledged that individual Members of Parliament would have to campaign to retain their seats, saying each legislator would have to “go to survive on their own.”
Push for wider regional campaign
Oparanya said the group would seek to bring county governments into the political mobilisation effort so that leaders can campaign collectively for Ruto’s second term.
“We shall see a way of now incorporating county government so that we now campaign as a team,” he said.
He said the Kisumu meeting would not be a one-off engagement, with the leaders agreeing to hold regular meetings as they prepare for the next General Election.
“We are going to have regular meetings to discuss the same as we prepare ourselves for the next general election,” Oparanya said.
Five leaders sent apologies for missing the meeting, according to Oparanya, who said they were outside the country attending to official duties during the parliamentary recess.
The meeting brings together leaders from the region around a common political position while also providing a forum to discuss development priorities, particularly those linked to the cooperative sector.
