Revealed: Ruto, Raila joint talks agenda

The closed-door session at the KCB Leadership Centre in Karen will bring together Senate and National Assembly members, and officials of the ruling Kenya Kwanza Coalition and ODM.

According to National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed, who is coordinating the ODM side, official invitation letters went out on yesterday.

“The agenda will revolve around the 10-point Memorandum of Understanding we signed in March, the compensation of victims of political violence and other matters of national concern,” Mr Mohamed said.

Asked if the gathering would discuss a possible ODM-UDA coalition, he neither confirmed, nor denied, but added: “If anyone proposes coalition matters, they will be discussed.”

Also Read: Ruto, Raila pick team to implement 10-point agenda

Last week, Mr Odinga hinted at the PG meeting, saying it would provide a favourable environment to discuss the two parties’ MoU and modalities for compensating protest victims.

The Saturday Nation has learnt that at the heart of Monday’s deliberations will be Bills and policy measures linked to the two parties’ MoU.

The agreement commits UDA and ODM to fully implement the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report, entrench budgetary inclusivity, strengthen devolution, fight corruption, curb wastage in the government, protect civil liberties and audit the national debt.

Also high on the list is a government-supported framework to compensate victims of protests and political unrest dating back to 2017 – one of Mr Odinga’s long-standing demands.

Also Read: 2027 power games: Week of deals as Ruto races to meet Raila demands

But behind the legislative veneer, the meeting is widely viewed as a staging ground for a potential Ruto-Raila pre-election alliance.

President Ruto and Mr Odinga have been working together under the broad-based government, which co-opted the ODM leader’s allies in the Cabinet and other Executive roles.

Mr Odinga’s allies in the Cabinet include former ODM party deputies Ali Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy) and Mr Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives), ex-ODM Chairman John Mbadi (National Treasury), former party Director of Political Affairs Opiyo Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum) and former ODM Electoral Board member Beatrice Askul (East African Community).

Mr Wandayi talked of a possible coalition between Mr Odinga and President Ruto on Thursday.

“Our support for the President will not end tomorrow. It will go to the maximum possible end, which is 2032,” the Energy Minister and former Ugunja MP said in Homa Bay.

“There is no doubt about that. We talk and mean what we say.”

Allies in both camps say the meeting could be the first formal step in building a 2027 coalition, echoing the 2007 ODM Pentagon power-sharing model that brought together Mr Odinga, Dr Ruto, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, former Cabinet ministers Najib Balala and Joseph Nyagah, now deceased.

Also Read: Raila: I do not regret pact with Ruto

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, who is also the UDA co-deputy leader, has hinted at a strong coalition bringing together President Ruto, himself and Mr Odinga.

“With William Ruto, I and Raila Odinga as a team, can we lose during campaigns?” he asked.

In Siaya, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah praised Mr Odinga “for standing with the President to stabilise the country,” while ODM lawmakers Samuel Atandi (Alego-Usonga) and Mark Nyamita (Uriri) have openly hinted at a 2027 “Ruto-Tosha” moment.

Already, the President has met several ODM demands, with the compensation plan seen as a gesture and political olive branch.

“We are in this broad-based government to stay. We are going to build bridges and bricks until 2027,” said Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga who is also Mr Odinga’s elder brother.

ODM Chairperson Gladys Wanga has asked party dissenters not to undermining the March agreement.

“You cannot tell us to leave the broad-based government when the decision was made by the party. If you truly speak for the party, you must follow its agenda. Unless Baba (Mr Odinga) tells us otherwise, we are in. We can’t get into the Wamunyoro (former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s camp) issue because he said he had set a trap for Baba,” the Homa Bay governor said.

ODM National Executive Council member and Secretary for Resource Mobilisation Jared Okello outlined the party’s likely bargaining position in any coalition talks.

The Nyando MP told the Saturday Nation that ODM would negotiate for the presidency or deputy presidency in any coalition agreement, alongside half of Cabinet and top government posts.

“As the biggest party in the country, we shall negotiate for president first. The irreducible minimum will be deputy president. The rest will be half the Cabinet, half the Principal Secretaries, half ambassadorial postings and half state agencies, including parastatals,” Mr Okello said.

Also Read: Raila: I’ll support President Ruto until 2027

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo stressed the need to implement the Nadco report and cement political inclusivity.

“We are in the process of anchoring the report. That will create the positions of prime minister and two deputies. This will resolve the question of political inclusivity once and for all,” Mr Odhiambo said.

The PG meeting is expected to attract more than 200 lawmakers. Governors from both camps will also attend.

Last week, Mr Odinga made one of his clearest hints yet that he could support President Ruto’s re-election.

He asked critics of the broad-based government to give the it space to deliver.

“To the naysayers, give us space and judge us in 2027. This is going to last till 2027. After that, we’ll see where we go,” Mr Odinga said.

The remarks attracted criticism from the opposition, with Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Development Acton Party of Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa accusing him of betraying the opposition.

For the President, the ODM partnership is as much about governance as it is about political stability.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei says the cooperation “is working very well and will continue beyond 2027 for the benefit of the country”.

Political analyst Dismas Mokua says the PG meeting could mark the formal birth of a coalition.

“It is likely a stepping stone to a reincarnation of the Pentagon,” Mr Mokua told the Saturday Nation.

But even as President Ruto and Mr Odinga move to put their house in order, a wave of youthful lawmakers has mounted a challenge under the banner Kenya Moja.

This new group promises to shake Kenya’s entrenched political order. The team is positioning itself as the country’s potential Third Force – distinct from President Ruto and Mr Odinga on one side, and the opposition camp steered by Mr Gachagua and Mr Musyoka on the other.

It says its mission is to champion the welfare of young people and vulnerable groups.

But, whether the team led by ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and MPs Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri), Caleb Amisi (Saboti) and Babu Owino (Embakasi East), will survive the inevitable squeeze from party chieftains, remains to be seen.

Mr Sifuna, who is the Nairobi senator, is opposed to the broad-based government.

Mr Amisi and Mr Owino are also members of ODM while Ms Wamuchomba is a UDA lawmaker.

The movement has 36 National Assembly and Senate Members from across the political divide, including independents.

Its members say they are determined to end decades of “political patronage” by the same crop of recycled leaders.

Mr Sifuna on Thursday said the public support has been humbling and energising.

“I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from Kenyans around the country and the world. I want to assure them that we hear what they are saying and we shall do whatever it takes not to be a disappointment to their hopes and dreams,” he said.

Ms Wamuchomba described Kenya Moja as a platform for leaders committed to issue-based politics, not personality cults.

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