Bring it on, battle-hardened Obado dares Raila on impeachment scheme

The embattled Migori Governor, Okoth Obado, on Tuesday came out guns blazing and dared Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga and his troops to table the impeachment motion against him.

Governor Obado, a former teacher turned politician, issued the warning even as Raila met MPs from Migori County in the capital city and supported ODM's decision to impeach the governor.

“I have nothing absolutely to fear,” Obado said in an interview, setting the stage for what appears to be a bruising battle for the control of the Nyanza county government.

During the television interview, Obado accused ODM and its top leadership of engaging in endless schemes to eject him from office.

As he spoke, Raila was holed up in a crisis meeting with elected leaders from Migori and senior party officials to discuss the ouster motion.

Raila’s meeting came against murmurs that a section of the ODM MCAs had vowed to reject the motion on grounds that it has been imposed on them.

In the meeting, Raila is understood to have given the MCAs, through the party’s top officials, the go-ahead to proceed with the motion, expected to be tabled in the county assembly anytime this week.

Raila convened the special meeting in his Nairobi’s Capitol Hill office as the Migori County Assembly MCAs officially resumed their sittings after a one-month recess to kick start the impeachment process.

Even though Raila did not publicly announce his stand, ODM national chairman John Mbadi confirmed that the impeachment motion had his full blessings.

“Raila is the party leader of ODM, which has resolved that the Governor should be impeached following corruption allegations. Do you think I as the chairman can stand before the public and announce something that my boss does not support? He is our leader and we must consult him before we do anything,” said Mbadi.

Obado, however, got rare support from a cross-section of leaders in Luo Nyanza led by former Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo who called on Mbadi to go slow on the matter and let the court decide the fate of the governor.

“The law states that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That is why President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto were elected despite having cases at The Hague. The impeachment plot targeting Obado is a good idea but it is clashing with the court proceedings hence amounting to contempt of court,” said Midiwo.