Sifuna claims 4 Raila men joining Ruto cabinet lack ODM blessings

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna, has maintained that the outfit has not joined the Kenya Kwanza government despite President William Ruto nominating four key members to join the Cabinet.

Sifuna, who also serves as Nairobi Senator, called for the resignation of the four ODM party officials, chairman John Mbadi (nominated MP), deputy party leaders Hassan Joho (former Mombasa Governor) and Wycliffe Oparanya (former Kakamega Governor), and National Assembly minority leader Opiyo Wandayi (Ugenya MP).

The letters should be submitted to the party before the quartet heads for vetting at the National Assembly next week.

He further insisted that, as the Secretary General, he was aware that the four were negotiating with the Head of State, but it was not official and within the party structures.

"Did we know that people were negotiating with Ruto? Yes, we knew. Was it something being done officially through the party structures? No. Did we endorse the decision by these four individuals to join the government? No. It is not a decision of ODM," he added.

"I expect that before they go for vetting, I will receive resignations from their positions in the party. That is my expectation because the law says that they cannot go into cabinet as parties or members of political parties," he said during a discussion on Citizen TV.

Mbadi was nominated to the Treasury docket, Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum), Joho (Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime affairs) and Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSME Development).

All four nominees accepted their nominations, expressing gratitude to the President, and are in line to be vetted.

Senator Sifuna further asserted that no decision had been made by any ODM organ regarding joining President William Ruto's government. He emphasised that Kenyans deserve to know the truth.

ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna addresses a press conference at Capitol Hill in Nairobi on April 3, 2024 alongside Cooperatives CS nominee Wycliffe Oparanya and Treasury CS nominee John Mbadi and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed. (Photo: ODM)

"As secretary-general, I sit in all organs of the party and I am the spokesperson of all those organs. There has been a lot of speculation about what happened yesterday (Wednesday). The truth of the matter is that there is no decision of any organ of ODM that I sit in to join the Ruto government," he said.

Senator Sifuna further accused the media of misrepresenting the Raila Odinga-led party's position on the matter. He pointed out that the misrepresentation started when the former Prime Minister, on July 9, 2024, accompanied President Ruto and other leaders to sign the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Bill into law.

"I'm not happy with the way the media has chosen to report the matters that have happened in the past few weeks. I think there has been a deliberate effort to misrepresent the position of the party, especially in the print media," Sifuna noted

The legislator added that the ODM party only called for a national conversation, but that has been turned to mean a dialogue between ODM and the ruling party, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

On Sunday, the ODM party announced that it was not negotiating for any coalition agreement or lobbying for appointments with Ruto's government. This was despite reports that President Ruto had offered opposition leader Raila five cabinet slots.

The decision, however, by Raila and his ODM brigade to work with Ruto comes as a blow to Azimio la Umoja Coalition.

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Narc Kenya's Martha Karua, DAP-K Eugene Wamalwa and Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni have openly stated that they will not work with Ruto.

Remarks by Jubilees Kioni also indicate that Raila and former President Uhuru Kenyatta don't read on the same page.

Kalonzo's bid to publicly announce that the Azimio leadership had resolved to reject Ruto's strategy to form a government of national unity by co-opting the opposition flopped on Wednesday last week after goons disrupted the press conference.