Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has branded Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, his Siaya counterpart James Orengo and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as “saboteurs” of President William Ruto’s so-called broad-based government.
The arrangement was forged last year after Ruto allied with long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga, head of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which Nyong’o, Orengo and Sifuna belong to, and saw several Odinga allies appointed to the government.
But the three have since been very critical of Ruto’s administration. Most recently, Nyong’o wrote to President Ruto, accusing him of sabotaging devolution.
Orengo and Sifuna have, meanwhile, been lashing out at ODM leaders for supporting Ruto. They accuse them of being tone-deaf and failing to hold the President accountable over Kenyans’ needs.
In an interview with Citizen TV’s Daybreak program on Thursday, Cherargei claimed the three leaders have been working hard to cripple Ruto’s government.
“I found it baseless; it is more of populism and pedestrian, and these are saboteurs of the broad-based arrangement – him, Orengo and Sifuna. They have been trying every means to sabotage it, and it has undermined their success,” the senator said.
In his April 22 letter, Governor Nyong’o took issue with road maintenance, arguing that the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERA) need not exist if the national government fully supports devolution.
He accused Ruto of taking the country back to the ‘Nyayo’ era of the late President Daniel Moi’s authoritarian leadership.
Cherargei, however, downplayed Nyong’o’s concerns and accused the governor of “playing to the gallery.”
“He is telling us we are going back to the Nyayo era, yet for the first time, Nyanza has gotten very serious projects, senior appointments,” he said, citing, among others, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi’s appointment. “Money now sleeps in Nyanza!”
Cherargei said Nyong’o must apologise to President Ruto and further urged Odinga to condemn the three leaders’ behaviour, which he labelled as blackmail.
“Nyong’o, Orengo and Sifuna must stop blackmailing the President. Raila Odinga must call them out for this incessant and irritating blackmail and undermining of the government,” he said.
