Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has raised doubts about the potential impact of the four opposition members appointed to President William Ruto’s cabinet. The latest batch of nominees includes John Mbadi for the Treasury, Opiyo Wandayi for Energy, Ali Hassan Joho for Mining and Blue Economy, and Wycliffe Oparanya for Cooperatives.
During a panel interview on Daybreak, Sifuna questioned whether these appointments would be effective given the possible ideological and policy differences between the nominees and President Ruto’s administration.
He specifically questioned whether Treasury nominee Mbadi could effectively implement Ruto’s bottom-up economic manifesto, which had been criticized by the opposition during the campaign.
Sifuna clarified that ODM had not engaged in any negotiations to join the government and that the four nominees were joining the cabinet in their personal capacities, without the endorsement of the ODM party.
“I can assure you Mbadi has no idea what bottom up means because he is a member of ODM. For us, we needed to have a conversation first, to have a document that says these are the priorities areas,” Sifuna said.
“For ODM, the priority areas have never changed. We a re a pro-people party. We are not going there to talk about other things. For instance, the first thing I would do in this government is to roll back all the taxes imposed by this government. Is John Mbadi going to be able to do that without a conversation or a framework?”
Further, the ODM SG expressed his shock when the president reappointed majority of the former CSs into the new cabinet, wondering whether the four would make a considerable impact in Ruto’s remaining tenure.
” I feel very bad for my chairman John Mbadi because he is a man that I respect. I don’t see how he will have an impact in President Ruto’s government because he is a minority,” Sifuna remarked.
“I was in shock when he reappointed the same people. It is impossible for you as ODM to go and have a conversation with (Interior CS nominee Kithure) Kindiki about reforming the police, accountability for the people who shot innocent protestors in the street. Kindiki and Environment CS nominee Aden Duale are not people you can have a conversation about these things.”
Following their nominations, the four opposition members will be required to resign from their respective elective posts and political positions to undertake the cabinet slots.
