Orengo on a Roll, but Accessibility and Weak Grassroots Organisation Could Be His Undoing

INVESTIGATIVE TEAM

August 31, 2025

Orengo on a Roll, but Accessibility and Weak Grassroots Organisation Could Be His Undoing

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Siaya Governor James Aggrey Bob Orengo is enjoying a political high. Two years into office, the veteran lawyer and reform icon has turned much of his Nyalore manifesto from campaign rhetoric into visible reality — from ambitious healthcare reforms and investment outreach to serious county planning documents that give Siaya a long-term development path.

In a county where incumbents rarely escape voter wrath, Orengo’s delivery record makes him appear unassailable as the next gubernatorial contest looms. Yet beneath the glowing record lurks a potential Achilles heel that could cost him dearly: accessibility to the people and grassroots ballot-box defence.

A Manifesto Taking Shape

Orengo’s 2022 nine-point agenda — promising better healthcare, water projects, roads, agriculture support, jobs and women/youth empowerment — is slowly taking root.

In health, his administration has expanded primary care access and begun strengthening Siaya County Referral Hospital. Ambulances and maternity upgrades have reached wards, and county plans for oncology and MRI services are underway. On the investment front, Orengo has hosted conferences that positioned Siaya as a destination for capital and partnerships. County planning documents — long neglected under previous administrations — are now guiding land use, infrastructure rollouts and economic priorities.

The combination of visible services and polished governance has created an image of competence. Even critics grudgingly admit the governor is “on a roll.”

With Raila out of the presidential race, the six-piece voting pattern may not be applicable

The 2022 Advantage: Raila’s Six-Piece Effect

But Orengo’s 2022 victory was not built on delivery alone. It was boosted by ODM leader Raila Odinga’s fervent calls for a “six-piece” voting pattern across Luo Nyanza. Party discipline at the grassroots meant polling-station agents ensured voters cast the entire ODM ticket — from MCA to president. Orengo, like other ODM candidates, benefited enormously from that block vote.

Fast forward to today, and the political landscape is shifting. The six-piece rallying cry no longer carries the same weight. Party loyalty is fraying, and national realignments are unsettling ODM’s once-monolithic grip on Nyanza. Relying on old formulas could prove costly.

There’s nothing wrong with engaging national media houses for promotional gigs—they have the reach— but do they have knowledge of the lay-of-the-ground such as a local practitioner?

The Achilles Heel: Accessibility & Agents

Here lies Orengo’s vulnerability. The governor’s office has drawn complaints of being impenetrable, with access often clogged at the desk of a powerful personal assistant. Stories of the PA acting as a “parallel governor” have fuelled resentment, with ordinary residents and even leaders finding it difficult to reach the man they elected.

Some of this can be explained away — Orengo is a senior statesman in his seventies and, like any human being, has had health challenges. But in politics, perception is everything. When accessibility is seen as restricted, it morphs into a narrative of arrogance and distance.

The other weak flank is grassroots defence of the ballot. Without a reinvigorated network of polling-station agents and ward-level mobilisation, Orengo cannot count on the same ODM advantage that carried him in 2022. Securing this machinery will require more than goodwill — it demands cultivating robust ties with the County Assembly Speaker George Okode and ensuring MCAs are not just passive observers but active field marshals at the polling stations.

If Orengo can fix these gaps, his path to a second term looks smooth. He has the incumbency advantage, a record of tangible delivery, and personal popularity built over decades of public service. But politics is unforgiving: opponents are watching for every crack to exploit.

To seal his legacy, the governor must re-engineer his office into a people-first space, professionalise communication and access through seasoned PR hands, and urgently rebuild the grassroots agent network that safeguards votes at the village level.

Orengo is on a roll. But in Siaya, elections are won not just with development records, but with accessibility and ballot-box vigilance. Unless he closes those gaps, the veteran governor risks handing rivals the very tools to chip away at his apparent invincibility.