KISUMU: Siaya County Assembly Speaker George Okode has strongly refuted reports suggesting Governor James Orengo has resigned, calling the allegations false and malicious.

Speaking to journalists in Kisumu, Okode said there is no official communication before the Assembly regarding any resignation and reaffirmed that Orengo remains the substantive county boss, fully discharging his mandate.

“Allow me to clarify that Governor Orengo is still the substantive Governor of Siaya County and is performing his duties as prescribed in law. The Governor is functioning and addressing, directing his cabinet and his administration as per the mandate he got from the people,” said Okode.

He accused political detractors of spreading misinformation to tarnish the county government’s image.

“I therefore want to take this opportunity to condemn in the strongest terms possible such allegations because they are nothing but fake. That is fake news and obviously, if you look at the trends, what has been going on in the recent past, it means that some people, busybodies, are out to discredit the government of Orengo.”

Okode cited earlier claims alleging Orengo had been poisoned and dismissed them as baseless.

“You remember they started by saying the Governor has been poisoned. When that didn’t realize any fruits, then they started writing some petitions which are not based on any law. There is no law that indicates that when a Governor is not physically in office that he has contravened any provisions of the law,” he added.

He urged Siaya residents to ignore the speculation and assured them that the governor would resume public engagements soon.

“I want to urge the public to ignore such falsehoods and wait for the Governor who should be reporting to office in due course and to continue performing his duties, the mandate that he got from the people,” he noted.

Downplaying suggestions that he had taken over in the governor’s absence, Okode said attending official functions does not imply he is acting in any executive capacity.

“The truth of the matter is, when the governor is away and when a speaker attends one meeting that has been convened in the county government office, that doesn’t make him the governor. How many times has the speaker, together with the governor, attended such meetings on behalf of the county government?”

He urged the public not to give attention to rumormongers.

“These are busybodies, they are doing their thing and no attention should be given to them because as I told you, they are trying to discredit a working government. The people of Siaya are urged to stay calm and wait for the Governor to resume,” he said.

His remarks come days after High Court advocate Maurice Okumu filed a petition demanding clarity on the governor’s whereabouts, noting that both Orengo and his deputy Dr William Oduol had been missing from public view for over a month.

“As residents of Siaya who gave governor Orengo mandate to lead the county, we are worried that he is not there and the deputy is also missing in action,” said Dr Okumu, a resident of Ugunja.

Orengo was last seen in public in June. Tensions between him and his deputy are believed to have contributed to the silence and absence from county function