The resignation of Homa Bay Deputy Governor Joseph Oyugi Magwanga on 26 February 2026 has ripped open what many in Nyanza politics quietly described as an inevitable divorce. In a terse statement, Magwanga cited “unbearable frustrations,” a locked office, and an inability to discharge his duties—pointing squarely at Governor Gladys Wanga. Hours later, he made his intentions crystal clear: he is running for governor in 2027. The man who stepped aside in 2022 after Raila Odinga personally persuaded him to back Wanga’s ticket is now free to settle old scores.
This is not mere personal drama. It is the latest fracture in a county ODM once regarded as an impregnable stronghold. Wanga, the trailblazing first female governor of Homa Bay, entered office in 2022 riding a wave of party unity engineered at the highest level. Yet the polarity between her and Magwanga was always as stark as the north and south poles. He was the veteran with deep roots in Kasipul and Oyugis; she was the ambitious former Woman Representative backed by the Odinga machinery. The 2022 arrangement was a forced marriage of convenience. That marriage has now officially collapsed.
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