Former Lugari member of parliament Cyrus Jirongo has weighed in on the popularity of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party in the western region.
Sharing his perspective Wednesday on the 'Pointblank' program moderated by controversial host Tony Gachoka, the former legislator held the view that the Odinga-led party's clout in the region had somewhat reduced.
"And truth be said ODM is not as strong as it used to be in the Western province. You can look at the last elections and things have continued to go low, " Jirongo said. (14:59-15:10)
He argued that the deputy president Dr William Ruto had discovered that ODM's popularity was diminishing and was working to capitalise on that state of affairs.
The opposition party has long enjoyed majority support in the Western region. The Luhya nation has backed former prime minister Raila Odinga's presidential bid in successive elections.
In the last general election, top Luhya leaders like Musalia Mudavadi, Bonny Khalwale and Moses Wetangula backed his bid. The 3 leaders have vowed not to rally behind the ODM supremo in the 2022 presidential election.
It is not yet clear the presidential candidate that the Western region will support. Even with the perception of diminishing support in the region, Mr Odinga has still managed to keep popular Luhya leaders in his camp.