Martha Karua has lauded the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for courageously calling out President William Ruto’s administration despite their cooperation under the broad-based government arrangement.

Speaking during a morning show on a popular radio station on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Karua praised Raila’s boldness in confronting the president publicly over alleged human rights violations and governance excesses, even while they shared the same political platform.

She noted that Raila did not shy away from speaking truth to power, recalling instances where he openly urged President Ruto to end abductions, extrajudicial killings, and acts of torture.

Also watch: Karua slams government for sidelining opposition at Raila’s funeral

Karua emphasised that although opinions may differ on whether his efforts were sufficient, Raila’s courage to challenge the system from within deserved recognition.

“I want to give credit to him and say that on more than one occasion, he stood publicly with William Ruto in the public space. He told him to end the abductions, extrajudicial killings and torture. He did call him out on violation of human rights. Whether that was enough is up to everybody’s, you know, the court of public opinion, but he did call him out more than once.” Karua stated.

The PlP party leader, who was among the opposition figures that were not formally recognised during Raila’s funeral services, also revealed that the late opposition chief had privately confided in her about his discomfort with certain developments within the broad-based government arrangement.

Political pundits’ views on Raila’s move

Elsewhere, other political pundits have offered a different opinion on this, with Barrack Muluka saying that, at the tail end of his political career, the former prime minister seemed to have dropped the ball on his stance against the government and called for regimes to be accountable.

However, he stated that young politicians who subscribe to his ideology have picked up from where he left off and are stepping in to fill the void.

Former LSK President Nelson Havi also said that although a section of Kenyans feel disappointed with Raila’s political moves at the end of his career, believing he betrayed the revolutionary image that has defined his political journey for years, they are reading him wrong and being unfair to the ODM premier.