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Opposition leader Raila Odinga was yesterday fighting to save his Orange party and by extension, the Azimio coalition from imminent implosion following the nomination of top ODM leaders to the Cabinet.

Wednesday’s events, which saw President William Ruto nominate four of Raila’s closest allies to the new look Cabinet spiralled into a full-blown implosion both within ODM and the Azimio coalition, with Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua filing a notice to bolt out of the latter.

“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 by way of this letter 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, to whom the letter was addressed, confirmed receiving it.  

As Karua bolted out, Raila’s own ODM party was facing a serious split, with a section of its MPs expressing outrage at the decision by the four top Raila allies led by deputy party leaders Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Joho as well as party national chairman John Mbadi and National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi to accept Cabinet nominations.

Affiliate parties

Faced with the threats of isolation by other Azimio affiliate parties, disintegration of his party and the wrath of the Generation Z, Raila tried to put on a brace face insisting neither Azimio coalition nor ODM had entered into a coalition government agreement with President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.

Ruto had on Wednesday raided the party and nominated Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs), Joho (Mining and Blue Economy), Mbadi (National Treasury) and Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum) to his Cabinet.

But political observers were quick to note that Raila’s move to distance himself from the move by his close allies who also held senior positions in the party, may have been a strategy by ODM not to lose key positions in Parliament such as Leader Minority in both National Assembly and Senate and the Public Accounts Committee.

Should the party confess to have entered into a coalition with Kenya Kwanza, then it automatically loses the plum positions in Parliament, which would be taken over by Wiper party.

As supporters in his Nyanza backyard took to the streets in jubilation, those in other regions joined a section of ODM party MPs and Azimio leaders in cursing Raila and his four allies who accepted Ruto nomination as traitors.

MPs from Western, hitherto Raila’s bastion, were yesterday breathing fire as they threatened to reconsider their link with the party. The legislators have planned a major meeting in Kakamega next Monday to decide on the way forward.

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.

Prosecution of policemen

In addition, the Orange party wants the prosecution of policemen involved in shooting to kill or maim protestors.

And now, a section of ODM MPs said that the four cabinet nominees did not have the blessings of the party, adding that there was no formal agreement with the party.

The MPs drawn from Western Kenya led by Saboti legislator Caleb Amisi, said that the raiding of the Orange should not be construed to mean that the opposition is now dead.

Instead, the MPs Amisi, Nabii Nabwera (Lugari), Godffrey Osotsi and Dr Oundo Mudenyo (Funyula) were categorical that Raila’s Orange party would still offer checks and balances to Kenya Kwanza regime.

Amisi said Kenya Kwanza administration’s move to pick ODM leaders for Cabinet slots shouldn’t be misconstrued as ODM’s compromise. “It is a Ruto’s political strategy for re-election come 2027 and we as ODM shall keep offering checks and balances to the government,” Amisi.

He went on: “At no time during the said meetings was it resolved that either the party or the coalition would be joining a coalition with Kenya Kwanza administration.” This is after Sifuna maintained that the members poached to the Cabinet were not seconded by the party but had been nominated as individuals.

Sifuna instead maintained that ODM did not endorse Mbadi, Joho, Oparanya, and Wandayi, but they knew the negotiations with President Ruto were ongoing, adding that members were nominated in their capacity and without the party’s blessings.

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.’’