President William Ruto has nominated Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi as the new Cabinet Secretary for Energy. Wandayi, who is currently the National Assembly's Minority Leader, will undergo a parliamentary vetting process. If approved, he will succeed Davis Chirchir, who has been nominated to take over the Roads portfolio, previously held by Kipchumba Murkomen.
Wandayi is serving his third term in Parliament, having first been elected in 2013 on the ODM ticket. Ugunja constituency, created from Ugenya constituency, is the sixth constituency in Siaya County. Upon Wandayi's appointment, the electoral commission will declare the Ugunja parliamentary seat vacant.
Born on June 22, 1972, Wandayi attended Sikalame Primary School and completed his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 1986. He then attended Sawagongo Secondary School, where he earned his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) four years later. Wandayi pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture at the University of Nairobi. In 2008, he completed a Diploma in Business Management at the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), and in 2010, he enrolled in an MBA executive program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He is also pursuing an LLB at Daystar University.
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Wandayi is a vocal lawmaker and a key ally of opposition leader Raila Odinga. He was once ejected from Parliament after disrupting former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation address by blowing a whistle. He was suspended from Parliament until the end of the session but successfully challenged the suspension in the High Court, which ruled that he should be allowed back, citing the need for representation of his electorate.
