President William Ruto addresses journalists at KICC, Nairobi flanked by his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, Azimio leader Raila Odinga and other national leaders on July 9, 2024.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta's shadow looms large over an escalating rift within the opposition coalition and Raila Odinga's apparent new reluctance to join President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration.
A reported determination by some of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition co-principals, including Mr Kenyatta, to stop a Raila-Ruto camaraderie is said to be the reason the former prime minister has been seen to be blowing hot and cold in his emerging relationship with President Ruto.
Mr Kenyatta is said to be opposed to Mr Odinga taking up the Africa Union Commission (AUC) chairperson post that brings him close to the President and which has seen the veteran politician go slow on his administration.
The former president is said to have invited Mr Odinga to at least two meetings outside the country at which he has persuaded the former Prime Minister to abandon the quest for AUC and concentrate on Kenya.
According to sources, at both meetings, one in Europe and another in the Middle East, Mr Kenyatta told Mr Odinga that he was working on mobilising central Kenya to make Mr Odinga president in 2027.
At a recent meeting at a foreign destination, Mr Kenyatta is said to have told Mr Odinga that Kenya needs him.
Mr Kenyatta told him that he should not go for AU arguing further that the evolving situation would help Mr Odinga become President in 2027.
On Friday night, Mr Odinga flew out to Dubai in what insiders say could be another planned meeting between him and Mr Kenyatta.
Mr Kenyatta is said to be pushing Mr Odinga to stay away from the current political troubles arguing that Kenya Kwanza regime could fall anytime and the former premier would be a beneficiary.
The talk in ODM is that Mr Kenyatta is working on a plot to pair his brother Muhoho Kenyatta with someone and make a presidential ticket in 2027.
Kalonzo-Muhoho ticket
ODM believes Mr Kenyatta has toyed with a Kalonzo-Muhoho ticket and sold it to the Wiper leader, but is also said to be considering a Kalonzo-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ticket.
But senior ODM members are sceptical about these schemes arguing that they are meant to have ODM fight other people’s wars and there would be nothing in them.
This, even as details have emerged of president William Ruto’s offer for Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga in his broad-based cabinet, amid a standoff in the opposition over cooperation with the Kenya Kwanza government.
Sunday Nation has established that the stalemate in Mr Odinga’s camp led to the delay in naming his lieutenants in the partial 11-member Cabinet President Ruto announced on Friday.
Impeccable sources in government and Mr Odinga’s camp confided in Sunday Nation that President Ruto has since offered the opposition chief at least five cabinet slots, with the expectation of having the names of individuals who will assist him in transforming the country.
The Cabinet slots, according to the sources, that Mr Odinga has been offered, which are yet to be filled include National Treasury and Planning, Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs and East African Community, Arid region and Regional Development.
“Ruto is offering these ministries, but Raila insists we should not take if Kalonzo (Musyoka), (Martha) Karua and (Jeremiah) Kioni don’t agree,” an insider in Mr Odinga’s camp told Sunday Nation.
“We have to push back. Finance cuts across all ministries and has a representative on every board. Blue Economy is what ODM counties are about from Coast to Busia to Turkana to Nyanza. What do we want?”
But even as Mr Odinga is still torn between his Azimio la Umoja One Kenya partners, including former President Uhuru Kenyatta who chairs the coalition’s council, Mr Musyoka’s faction has distanced itself from the ODM leader’s move to cooperate with the Kenya Kwanza administration, insisting that any affiliated party doing so is doing it individually.
ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna termed as “disappointment,” the return of six CSs to the Cabinet, adding to the confusion surrounding Mr Odinga’s cooperation bid with the government.
The six former Cabinet secretaries are Prof Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Aden Duale (Defence), Alice Wahome (Lands), Soipan Tuya (Environment) and David Chirchir (Roads). While former Trade minister Rebecca Miano was named Attorney-General.
“It’s a major disappointment. It doesn’t send the right message in terms of what the public expected. It would be difficult for instance to have an honest conversation about reform and accountability in the security sector with the likes of Duale and Kindiki back in Cabinet. Those two are part of the problem,” Mr Sifuna said.
The ODM official insisted that for an honest conversation, “no member of the former Cabinet ought to be brought back”.
Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura said the President was consulting widely on those picked and the remaining picks.
“The President wants a Cabinet that reflects the face of Kenya that also meets constitutional requirements such as regional balance, inclusion of the youth, women, persons with disabilities etc. He is keen to have a broad-based government in spite of political opinion. In the same vein, the Opposition is also having its own consultations as this is part of the national dialogue to form an all-inclusive government,” said Mr Mwaura.
Injecting new blood
“The President has had to look at those ministers with the requisite capacity and experience for institutional memory and effective public service delivery. There is a need to ensure continuity of the implementation of the bottom-up economic transformation plan while at the same time injecting new blood as Kenyans have demanded.”
Mr Odinga is in a dilemma on whether to present his list of nominees to the President amid simmering tension over the return of the former CSs.
His close associate told Sunday Nation that there have been several attempts, including from his elder brother Dr Oburu Oginga, to accept Dr Ruto’s offer.
“But as of this evening (Saturday), he (Mr Odinga) was still reaching out to Kalonzo,” the source said, adding that President Ruto “particularly wanted Finance and Energy to come from Luoland.”
Siaya governor James Orengo described President Ruto as a passing cloud and urged Mr Odinga not to get into any deal with him.
"Just know that joining President Ruto is a disaster. In fact, it is an abomination, because it cannot work. Where will he take us? He will not take us anywhere. In fact, he will be taking us into a sinking ship,” he said at a funeral in Alego Usonga.
Kakamega deputy governor Ayub Savula sensationally claimed that “the war between Uhuru and Ruto is not yet over to date,” hence the main reason for the standoff and Mr Odinga’s delay to submit his list of nominees.
“So Raila has found himself between a rock and a hard place. While Ruto had managed to pull him from Uhuru and even promised him support for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC), Uhuru is still determined to win over Raila. This is the reason for the push and pull we are witnessing now,” Mr Savula said.
