Hussein Khalid vows to hold opposition to account after ODM opted to work with govt
By Arnold Ngure, August 14, 2025Human rights activist Hussein Khalid has vowed to hold both the government and the opposition accountable following the decision by ODM Party leader Raila Odinga to work with President William Ruto’s ruling UDA Party.
Speaking during the ninth devolution conference in Homa Bay on Thursday, August 14, 2025, Khalid lamented that institutions charged with oversighting the county and national governments had failed in their mandate, and had lost public trust.
“From the grassroots to the national level, we are seeing institutions eroding their public trust. As the civil society, we continue to not only hold leaders accountable but also those who are meant to supervise to do the same,” Khalid stated.
Broad-based govt
He slammed the ODM party for siding with the government, stating that the union dilutes its role as the government watchdog.
“We hold the opposition to account because they have a duty to hold the government accountable. When you are a party in the opposition, and then you decide to go to bed with the government of the day, you are diluting your responsibility as an opposition party,” Khalid noted.
Khalid also stated that counties had become avenues for diverting public resources and plunder.
“When we adopted the new constitution in 2010, devolution was a promise in which everyone had so many hopes. Unfortunately, that promise has turned into plunder,” he said.
Mismanagement of resources
“Every year, you hear about mismanagement of resources, ghost workers, and unsupported expenditure. We feel that devolution can play a bigger and better role than what we are seeing today.”
Khalid indicated that county governments would get all the blame for dilapidated facilities in their jurisdictions over mismanagement of the resources availed.
“For us, we are zeroing down on the county governments because the promise was with the county government, and when we see dilapidated infrastructure, we get extremely frustrated,” he said.
“Many people feel that the county governments are not delivering on their mandate. The resources are either diverted to governors’ homes or county executives. It becomes a party for a few. We have a firm belief that we over-devolved, and 47 counties are economically unsustainable.”