Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has launched a scathing attack on the recent political agreement between President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, dismissing it as a futile exercise that fails to address Kenya’s real challenges.

Speaking on a local media station on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, Onyonka argued that the pact diverts attention from more pressing national issues.

“I want to say this unequivocally, this agreement is a waste of our time, money, resources and anything else that this republic needs,” Senator Onyonka declared.

The Kisii Senator emphasized that the country’s problems are well known and do not require new agreements between political leaders for resolution.

“The facts and the issues that are affecting our country are clearly known. We are an overtaxed country, we are overwhelmingly corrupt, and we have dismembered all the institutions that are supposed to manage and control our behaviour,” he stated.

Onyonka expressed particular concern over what he described as systematic attacks on oversight institutions, citing the Controller of Budget and the Auditor General as examples.

He also criticized the lack of accountability at the county level, asserting that many governors misuse funds with impunity.

“Some of the governors have done excellent work, very few of them. The majority of them are pilfering funds, misusing those funds and deliberately [doing so] because the EACC and DCI have been deconstructed and basically been made useless to follow up to create the element of deterrence,” Onyonka asserted.

The senator questioned the sincerity of both Ruto and Raila in their stated aim of fixing the country’s problems.

“We are busy talking about how these two gentlemen who are national leaders are walking around and moving around discussing how they want to fix the country. How do you fix the country when you are the very same ones creating the same mongrel?” he asked.

In a surprising revelation, Onyonka, who is an ODM member, claimed he was not consulted about the agreement despite being an elected senator.

“When this decision was being made, I am a senator, nobody called me to ask me what my view was and I brought in my vote from the Kisii people in Kisii County,” he disclosed.

According to Onyonka, Kenya’s real problem lies in leaders’ refusal to govern according to the law and to ensure that devolved functions are fully implemented.

“The reality we have in our country is very simple. We are refusing to govern ourselves within the law. We are refusing to be responsible and respectful in our behaviour. We are refusing to devolve functions that should have gone to county governments so that funds can follow those functions,” he argued.

The senator characterized the Ruto-Raila agreement as primarily a business arrangement that does not address fundamental governance issues.

“To me what President William Ruto and Raila Odinga are doing as far as I’m concerned is a business,” he stated.

Ruto-Raila deal

On Friday, March 7, 2025, President Ruto and Raila Odinga signed a framework agreement aimed at establishing collaboration between the Kenya Kwanza coalition and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party in government.

The agreement, titled “Understanding to Resolve the Social and Political Challenges Facing Kenyans,” seeks to address ten key issues affecting the Kenyan population.

This pact aims to expedite the full implementation of the NADCO report, promote inclusivity in public life, strengthen devolution, protect the livelihoods of young people, uphold leadership and integrity, safeguard the right to peaceful assembly and protest, tackle the national debt, combat corruption, eliminate public resource wastage, enhance government efficiency, and protect the sovereignty of the people, the rule of law, and constitutionalism.