By Azimio La Umoja Party leader Raila Odinga has revealed that four of his party’s allies held talks with President William Ruto before being nominated to serve in Cabinet.
Raila described the urgency of President Ruto in appointing a new cabinet to quell the political tension that has gripped the country.
Doubts have also been cast over the sincerity of earlier statements by the ODM party where some party members denied claims that the opposition had held talks with the president over the cabinet.
Raila’s assertion contrasts with previous assertions made by himself and other party members that ODM deputy leaders Wycliffe Oparanyah and Hassan Joho, party chairman John Mbadi and Minority Leader in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandai are set to join President William Ruto’s cabinet.
According to Raila, the president conveyed the urgent need to form an inclusive cabinet and had requested experts from the opposition.
“I told him that if he felt he was in a tight spot, he should do something about it his own way. He demanded to run the government and that’s why the cabinet needed to be united quickly,” he said.
“I told Ruto to wait for the prior agreement but he said he was in a hurry to form a new cabinet,” Raila added.
But earlier this week Raila appeared to distance himself from the nomination, saying neither ODM nor Azimio had any coalition agreement with the UDA.
“We expected clear terms of engagement to be formulated based on the issues we have raised in our various statements. While we extend our best wishes to the candidates and trust that they will contribute positively to the development of the nation, we will continue to insist on national engagement under the terms we have outlined earlier,” Raila said.
Speaking at the funeral of lawyer Evans Oluenjo in Arego Usonga on Saturday, Raila said President Ruto had asked for experts to be appointed from the opposition to help run the country.
The prime minister said he was concerned the country was slowly sliding into a state of emergency and could not simply sit back and do nothing.
“We had to sit down and discuss and put forward terms,” he said.
According to the ODM chief, he wanted to ensure that solid agreements were in place before anyone from his unit joined the President to help serve and govern the country.
“I told him if you feel you are in a bind then do your job well. You are the one who has pushed the people out and you cannot do this without structure, discussion and agreement but he requested me that there is a government to run and we need to unite the cabinet urgently,” he said.
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Raila said he had released four ODM leaders who were nominated to join Ruto’s cabinet.
Raila’s allies who have joined President Ruto’s cabinet include Minority Leader Opiyo Wandai, ODM leader John Mbadi, ODM deputy leader Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanyah who will serve in President Ruto’s cabinet.
However, he maintained that they must operate in accordance with the ethics of the ODM party.
He said the ODM party would continue as an opposition party and as part of the Azimio coalition.
Raila maintained that Kenya needed a national conference where representatives of the people could come together and constructively discuss issues affecting the country.
He, however, noted that no agreement or pact in this regard has been signed between ODM and the Ruto administration.
He said the decision was as a result of a request from President Ruto to recruit ministers to assist in the emergency running of government and the country.
Raila said Ruto had promised to put in place the framework for the agreement at a later date.
Raila, however, explained that there were serious issues that needed to be resolved before the national conference.
“This includes compensation to the families of the victims of police violence and brutality last year and this year, payment of hospital bills for those injured during the protests, the release of all those arrested and in police custody, and the withdrawal of all pending charges against those arrested during the protests,” he explained.
Raila said they agreed to begin dialogue only after their concerns were resolved.
“We must define the theme of the dialogue. The issues raised by Generation Z are not new and are similar to those we raised last time. We talked about unemployment in our country, rising cost of living, tribalism, corruption and debt management. These are important issues that need to be discussed,” he pointed out.
And Siaya state governor James Orengo, who had previously opposed working with Ruto, has now reversed course and insisted there needs to be a structured relationship between Ruto and Siaya state.
Orengo said he was advocating for a similar agreement to the one struck with former President Mwai Kibaki during the grand coalition government.
He maintained that he wanted an agreement that would prevent Ruto from arbitrarily sacking Raila’s allies without first consulting Raila.
“We know the opportunities are there, but all we want is a structured relationship with the people we work with,” he added.
He claimed to be loyal to Raila and was confident that he could never lead them astray.
“I know that as long as Raila is alive, we will not go astray, and we must be leaders who have a voice,” he said.
Last week, Orengo criticised plans by his ODM colleagues to join forces with Kenya’s Kwanza government, a move he described as unfortunate and disastrous.
“Taking the CS position in the name of ODM is a betrayal of the principles of the constitution and the progressive movement the party represents. It is total betrayal and an act of political cannibalism. Even hyenas have no hunger to eat the dead,” Orengo said at the time.
On Saturday, ODM leaders maintained that Orengo’s statement may have been intended as a wait-and-see move, adding that the resolution to include its members in Ruto’s cabinet had been approved by party members.
