We won’t allow Ruto-Raila alliance, says Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri
ODM leader Raila Odinga (left) and Deputy President William Ruto during the installation of Bishop Anyolo as Archbishop of Kisumu at Uzima University Grounds in Kisumu on January 12, 2019.
Deputy President William Ruto’s close ally has dismissed a possible alliance between his boss and Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga.
Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri on Sunday termed talk of a possible alliance between the two leaders as ‘pure imagination’.
“Deputy President William Ruto cannot form a coalition with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga without consulting us. Any coalition with Mr Odinga now cannot work, we will only welcome him after the 2022 General Election,” said Mr Ngunjiri.
“We cannot allow Mr Odinga to partner with DP Ruto, because I am sure the alliance won’t last long. There is no point in marrying a person when you know very well that the union will soon collapse. Why would you want to subject children to suffering when it is clear a marriage won’t survive,” added the legislator.
Mr Ngunjiri's remarks come hardly a week after it emerged that Dr Ruto met Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, at Mahali Mzuri camp, within the Maasai Mara, in Narok County.
Last Wednesday, photos of the county chief, in the company of Dr Ruto, Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo and former CSs Mwangi Kiunjuri and Rashid Echesa, were widely circulated on social media.
As Mr Odinga's deputy in ODM, Mr Oparanya's meeting with the deputy president spun speculations of a looming political alliance between the two leaders.
However, it was not clear if Mr Oparanya was planning to ditch ODM or whether he was holding talks ahead of an alliance between Mr Odinga and Dr Ruto.
On Friday, Mr Oparanya said Mr Odinga was aware of his Wednesday Maasai Mara meeting with DP Ruto, in what now threatens to rock the handshake deal between Mr Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Raila was initially not aware of the meeting but I called to inform him the moment I bumped into Ruto to ensure he does not hear it from third parties. He then told me to proceed and meet the DP,” Mr Oparanya said.
The ODM party has lately warmed up to the idea of working with DP Ruto and its senior members say if that’s what it would take to avenge a ‘potential betrayal’, so be it.
The DP’s allies too, have no problem working with Mr Odinga, save for fear that he does not have support in the Mt Kenya region that backs Dr Ruto.
Already, leaders among them Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Gidoen Moi (Kanu) and Moses Wetang'ula are also building a coalition dubbed; ‘The One Kenya Alliance’ ahead of the 2022 polls.
