Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, 68, is currently the Cabinet Secretary nominee for Cooperative and MSEs. He was once a former governor of Kakamega County from 2013 to 2022. He became the first governor following the promulgation of the Kenyan Constitution in 2010. Previously, he served as the Minister of State for Planning, National Development, and Vision 2030 in the Mwai Kibaki-led government.
Early Life, Education, and Politics
Wycliffe was born in Butere, in 1956 and attended Mabole Primary before proceeding to Butere Boys & Kisii High School for his A-levels.
He then joined the University of Nairobi (UON), 1977-1980, for his undergraduate in Commerce (Accounting). Oparanya pursued his Masters in Business Administration (Finance) at the same institution in 1999-2000.
He has over 23 years of experience in local and international Finance Management, Audit, and Business Consultancy.
He is a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party. His journey to national politics started when he represented the Butere Constituency in 2002 and retained the seat in 2007. Oparanya was appointed Minister by then Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This was during the coalition government after the disputed 2007 elections.
Networth and Business Ventures
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments, last Sunday, Oparanya explained that his wealth is mainly comprised of residential properties.
The Cooperatives and MSMEs Development CS nominee has placed his net worth at Ksh. 600M.
Oparanya’s Polygamous Family Life
The former Governor has always opened up about his interesting family life. He has always introduced his family to the public on several occasions. He has two wives and a girlfriend, something that has elicited mixed reactions from the public.
Speaking on The Art of Living show, Oparanya said his wives have no problem with him having a girlfriend.
“I have no problem and my wife doesn’t have a problem..”
“They are friends and sometimes my girlfriend comes here to say hi to my wife. My wife can’t complain because I take good care of her every day.” he said.
He explained that he was the only surviving child of his mother after his first four siblings died. Being the only one to carry the family name, his mother encouraged him to have more children to compensate for what she would have had.
Last year, photoshoot pictures of him posing with a beautiful lass, in warm embraces, surfaced. The lady was identified as Mary Bikebi. The viral pictures were allegedly leaked and caused quite a buzz on the interwebs. Oparanya said it caused him public attention something he is not comfortable with since it affected his family negatively. He had considered taking legal action on the matter.
His Legacy
Oparanya has been used as a template for good governance. He is among the ranked first-time governors due to his development record in Kakamega County. He says he feels proud of the infrastructure that he put up in his county. According to him, no county was comparable to him at his time.
“You can ask anybody around what I did. All these roads, I put them using county funds. Very few counties tarmacked roads 240 kilometers in 10 years,” he said.
“I also started building a Level 6 Hospital. If you go to Kakamega, you’ll see it. Then Bukhungu Stadium because I wanted to attract international events there, and we hosted Sakapa games because of that stadium. They were there for two weeks and the town changed because there was a lot of business, that’s the economy of the town. I feel those three are the major projects that wherever even if I passed on now people will remember that l did something for them.”
Fun Facts
- Oparanya has been a senior Audit Manager at Earnest & Young. He was also a Group Finance controller at Kenya Aerotech Co. Limited.
- He is the only surviving child of his mother after his 4 siblings passed on.
- He has 2 wives a girlfriend and a total of 3 children.
- He was Chair of the Council of Governors (COG) from 2018 to 2021.
- He is a Ph.D student in Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
