‘Only Wiper, DAP-K are valuable to ODM’ – Alai
Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai has said that only Wiper Party and the Democratic Action Party Kenya (DAP-K) are valuable to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party in the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party.
In a statement on Monday, July 1, 2023, Alai termed other parties in the coalition as "donkeys" that must be whipped to make an impact.
"ODM currently finds value in a coalition with Wiper and DAP-K. Others are donkeys we have to whip to make any impact. The others are stressing ODM with lots of funny rendezvous while in real sense, they wasted our votes, handed over power to someone they want us to call enemy but they call them "my President"," Alai stated.
According to the MCA, ODM should now focus on rebuilding itself in preparation for 2027 elections, instead of focusing on the smaller parties.
"ODM must focus on rebuilding, preparing voter register and ensuring that we are ready for 2027 as soon as July 2024," he added.
ODM the biggest in Azimio
Before the 2022 General Elections, Azimio had a membership of around 21 parties, some of which have shifted to the government side.
Some parties include Jubilee, KANU, NARC, United Democratic Movement (UDM), United Democratic Party (UDP) and NARC–Kenya among others.
Parties in the Azimio fold that have one MP each include the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), United Party of Independent Alliance (UPIA), Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG), and National Ordinary People Empowerment Union (Nopeu).
ODM, which is the largest party in Azimio, has 85 MPs.
Alai's remarks come ahead of the anticipated bipartisan talks between the government and the opposition.
On Sunday, President William Ruto confirmed that he was set to hold dialogue with leaders allied to the opposition.
"Our engaging our friends in the Opposition, we agreed that all leaders past, present and future that violence, destruction of property will not be in the equation in the republic of Kenya, we are democratic country we can talk to," Ruto stated.
On Sunday, Azimio confirmed it has sanctioned a meeting between its leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto.
The opposition says their hope was that the initial meeting would lay the groundwork for honest talks over the issues they have put forward.
"In that spirit, we sanctioned a meeting between our leadership and that of Kenya Kwanza, under the facilitation of Olusegun Obasanjo. This initial meeting was to prepare the ground for honest discussions of the issues we have been raising and those that Kenya Kwanza feels like raising. The meeting was therefore a talk about envisaged talks," Azimio co-principal Peter Munya said.
While confirming its sanction on the Ruto-Raila meeting, Azimio claimed there is dishonesty on the part of Kenya Kwanza.
