Opposition leader Raila Odinga was engaged in a struggle to save his Orange party and, by extension, the Azimio coalition from imminent collapse following the nomination of senior ODM leaders to the Cabinet.
On Wednesday, President William Ruto’s nomination of four of Raila’s closest allies to the newly restructured Cabinet triggered a significant crisis within both ODM and the Azimio coalition. Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua filed a notice to exit the coalition in response to the developments.
“Kindly take note that our stay in Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition is not tenable due to the prevailing political developments. As Narc Kenya, we are giving notice to exit the coalition as stipulated in the exit clause(s) in the Coalition Agreement,” read a letter signed by the party’s acting Secretary General, Asha Bashir, and tweeted by Karua.
National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed confirmed receipt of the letter.
As Karua departed, Raila’s ODM party faced an internal crisis, with some of its MPs expressing anger over the acceptance of Cabinet nominations by the four top Raila allies, including deputy party leaders Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Joho, along with party national chairman John Mbadi and National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi.
Confronted with the threat of isolation from other Azimio affiliate parties, the potential disintegration of his party, and the backlash from Generation Z, Raila attempted to present a brave front, asserting that neither the Azimio coalition nor ODM had entered into a coalition government agreement with President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
On Wednesday, Ruto nominated Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs), Joho (Mining and Blue Economy), Mbadi (National Treasury), and Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum) to his Cabinet, prompting political observers to suggest that Raila’s attempt to distance himself from the actions of his close allies—who held senior positions in the party—might be a strategy by ODM to maintain key roles in Parliament, such as the Minority Leader in both the National Assembly and Senate and the Public Accounts Committee.
If the party were to acknowledge an alliance with Kenya Kwanza, it would automatically forfeit these important parliamentary positions to the Wiper party.
While supporters in his Nyanza stronghold celebrated in the streets, others in different regions joined a faction of ODM party MPs and Azimio leaders in denouncing Raila and his four allies who accepted Ruto’s nominations as traitors.
MPs from Western Kenya, previously a stronghold for Raila, expressed their anger yesterday, threatening to reevaluate their association with the party. They have scheduled a significant meeting in Kakamega next Monday to discuss their next steps.
And as ODM faced an uncertain future, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka assured his supporters he was in charge of the opposition outfit as he denied claims he had been offered a position in the government.
“That thing about the Attorney General is a mirage. I may be senior counsel which is okay maybe that is the attraction but this guy has been the vice president of the republic and minister in many portfolio do you expect him surely to go and serve Ruto as the AG I think he is expecting too much,” he said.
But Raila moved to calm waters with a clarification they had anticipated crafting clear engagement terms based on issues they raised in various communiques.
“Neither ODM party nor Azimio has entered into any coalition agreement with Ruto’s UDA party,” said Raila.
Instead, Raila buttressed earlier communication by the party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna on the minimum which includes compensation to the families of the victims of extra-judicial executions and persons injured by the state since last year and release of all persons in custody and termination of all cases related to protests since last year.
Additionally, the Orange party is calling for the prosecution of police officers involved in the shooting and injuring of protesters. A group of ODM MPs has stated that the four cabinet nominees did not have the party’s endorsement and that there was no formal agreement regarding their nominations.
Led by Saboti legislator Caleb Amisi, the MPs from Western Kenya emphasized that the raids on the Orange party should not be interpreted as a sign of the opposition’s demise.
Instead, Amisi, along with Nabii Nabwera (Lugari), Godffrey Osotsi, and Dr. Oundo Mudenyo (Funyula), asserted that Raila’s Orange party would continue to provide checks and balances to the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Amisi remarked that the Kenya Kwanza administration’s decision to select ODM leaders for Cabinet positions should not be seen as a compromise by ODM. “It is a political strategy by Ruto aimed at re-election in 2027, and we, as ODM, will continue to offer checks and balances to the government,” he stated.
He added, “At no point during the discussions was it agreed that either the party or the coalition would join forces with the Kenya Kwanza administration.” This came after Sifuna emphasized that the members appointed to the Cabinet were not endorsed by the party but were nominated as individuals.
Sifuna reiterated that ODM did not support the nominations of Mbadi, Joho, Oparanya, and Wandayi, although they were aware that negotiations with President Ruto were ongoing. He noted that the members were nominated in their personal capacities and without the party’s approval.
He went on: “If ODM resolved to get into a government of national unity with UDA, I would say it. I do not speak for myself but for the party. I am not afraid of Ruto and Raila. I am not a coward; fearlessness did not start with Gen Z.”
But Kisumu Senator Prof Tom Ojienda disagreed with Sifuna saying that the four ODM luminaries could not have been appointed without the knowledge of Raila.
“Mbadi, Joho, Oparanya, and Wandayi cannot be nominated as President Ruto’s CS nominees without the blessings of Raila Odinga. They will need to resign from their positions in both Parliament and the ODM Party,” said Ojienda.
At a press briefing yesterday, Nabwera charged that if President Ruto wanted the opposition leaders he should have done so in consultations with all co-principals and not only ODM.
“We want to make it clear that many of us if not all of us here were present during both the ODM and Azimio PG held on the 12th of July 2024 at the Jaramogi Foundation in Nairobi. It therefore came as a shock when senior members of ODM showed up on a list of cabinet appointees announced by Ruto yesterday,” said Nabwera.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino accused President Ruto of turning Kenyans against each other by isolating some tribes, some age groups, and some regions to divide citizens the most and that before sharing power in a cosmetic overhaul he had several conditions that he must fulfill.
“We demand that Ruto should pay families that lost their loved ones Sh 1 million for funeral expenses they are incurring and compensate the bereaved families Sh10 million for the excruciating pain, agony and suffering that they have been put through,” said Babu.
In Nyanza, Raila’s diehard allies MPs Mark Nyamita,(Uriri), Peter Masara, (Suna West), Prof Tom Ojienda (Kisumu Senator), termed the appointments as good and called on Kenyans to embrace dialogue.
Nyamita, however, claimed the only challenge Mbadi will face is the debt burden and how to bring down the high taxes and cost of living. But he said dialogue was key.
“We welcome them on board, we have finally been vindicated because we have already crossed the floor in readiness to support the Government deliver its mandate. Now, we are together.’’
