Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has called for the resignation of party members who were nominated by President William Ruto to join his cabinet.
Speaking on Thursday, Sifuna stated that the four ODM-affiliated members had not been endorsed by the party to join Ruto’s government, and their nominations do not reflect ODM’s position. He emphasized that these members should submit their resignation letters before undergoing parliamentary vetting.
“I expect to receive their resignations from party positions before they go for vetting. The law states they cannot join the cabinet as party members,” Sifuna said on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show. He acknowledged that the party was aware of negotiations with Ruto but clarified that these were not conducted through official party channels and were not endorsed by ODM.
Sifuna also mentioned that the nominations were not approved by party leader Raila Odinga, who has been speculated to be aligning with the government. He noted that if Raila had been involved, there would have been gender equity among the nominees.
“Even the president never claimed to have consulted Raila or ODM. He simply announced the names he appointed, which is his prerogative as president,” Sifuna noted. He added that if Raila had been asked to suggest capable candidates, he would not have presented four male names, nor would he have chosen two individuals from the same region in a party as diverse as ODM.
President Ruto’s second batch of cabinet nominees included ODM members John Mbadi (Treasury), Ugunja MP James Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), former Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy), and former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs Development). This announcement came just 24 hours after Sifuna clarified that ODM was not negotiating any coalition agreement or seeking appointments with Ruto’s government.
Reports had circulated that Ruto offered Odinga five Cabinet slots despite opposition within the party against cooperating with the government. These reports followed Odinga’s agreement to a national multi-sectoral dialogue forum proposed by Ruto to address issues raised in recent anti-government protests.
Last week, several principals from the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition stated they had no plans to join the government, viewing it as a betrayal to the Kenyan people.
