By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 13 August 2026 - Siaya Governor James Orengo has met Linda Mwananchi delegates from Homa Bay, Migori and Siaya and vowed to attend the planned rally in Homa Bay town on Sunday.
Orengo urged the delegates not to shy away from the meeting. He told them to remain firm despite reported fears that opponents could disrupt the rally.
His decision to attend gives the Sunday meeting greater political weight. It also turns the rally into a test of political freedom, organisation and control of political space.
“The Linda Mwananchi movement will not be intimidated out of Homa Bay. We will be there,’’ he told delegates at his Kisumu Mlimani apartments on Thursday.
Orengo was flanked by Linda Mwananchi proponents Brian Weke, lawyer Clifford Obiero and other supporters.
Obiero is also positioning himself for the Homa Bay Town parliamentary seat. He said they had the right to freedom of speech and association and no one should gag them at all.
Their meeting brings together political interests from three counties. It suggests that the Homa Bay rally is being viewed as part of a wider regional mobilisation.
The security concerns have added another layer to the contest.
Weke said the organisers had notified police about the rally. He said they would also report to Homa Bay Police Station and formally place the matter on record.
“We had notified the police,” Weke said, stressing that security agencies have a constitutional duty to protect lives and property.
That statement is politically significant.
The organizers are making it clear that they expect the state to secure the rally. They are also distancing themselves from any confrontation that may occur.
The burden now falls heavily on the security agencies.
“They must protect the right to peaceful assembly. They must also prevent rival groups from turning political competition into violence,’’ the lawyer who serves as the Siaya governor said.
Orengo's decision to attend personally raises the stakes.
He is not merely endorsing the rally. He is putting his political standing behind it.
That could energise supporters. It could also increase the pressure on opponents who may want to challenge the movement's presence in Homa Bay.
But the organizers face their own test.
A large and peaceful rally would strengthen their political message. It would show that the movement can mobilise without provoking disorder.
Violence would achieve the opposite.
It would shift attention away from the issues the organisers want to raise. It would also give opponents an opportunity to question the movement's intentions.
This is why Orengo's appeal to delegates not to shy away is important.
He is asking them to confront fear without embracing confrontation.
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That distinction could define Sunday's politics.
The rally is increasingly about more than numbers. It is about whether competing political forces can occupy the same political space without resorting to intimidation.
For Brian Weke and Clifford Obiero, the event offers a chance to demonstrate grassroots strength. For Orengo, it is an opportunity to assert that no part of Kenya should become a political no-go zone.
For the police, it is a test of impartiality.
And for Homa Bay, Sunday could provide an early glimpse of the political battles ahead.
Orengo has made his choice.
He will attend.
Now the question is whether the rally will be remembered for the size of its crowd and strength of its message—or for the disruption its organisers fear.
The most powerful outcome for Linda Mwananchi would be simple: a big, disciplined and peaceful rally.
That would send a message without throwing a single stone.
Rather than presenting the rally as a confrontation that must be won in the streets, Weke says the organisers have already notified the police about the event and intend to report to Homa Bay Police Station to formally place the matter on record.
“We had notified the police,” Weke said, according to the report, adding that the organisers would go to the Homa Bay police station to formally put the matter on record.
They told the press that if there are genuine security threats, the responsibility for dealing with them belongs to the state — not rival political groups.
Having been notified of the rally, as Weke says, the security agencies will have to demonstrate that constitutional rights are not merely words on paper.
Their challenge will be to protect lives and property while ensuring that peaceful political activity is not strangled by intimidation.
Homa Bay is therefore about to become a political stage on which much larger questions will be played out.
Who controls political space? Can opponents disagree without confrontation?Can police protect competing political interests impartially?
And can Linda Mwananchi turn the threat narrative into evidence of resilience rather than a prelude to chaos? Orengo has already answered his part.
He is going and so is the Linda wananchi team. Weke says the police have been notified.
Now the eyes of the political class will turn to Homa Bay on Sunday — waiting to see whether the town witnesses a peaceful demonstration of democratic freedom or another chapter in Kenya's troubling history of politics spilling dangerously into the streets.
Orengo Vows to Attend Linda Mwananchi Rally in Homa Bay, Says His Body is Full of Scars
The organizers of Homa Bay rally are making it clear that they expect the state to secure the rally.