Several ODM Members of Parliament from Nairobi County on Monday boycotted a meeting with President William Ruto at State House.
Some opened up about why they rejected the invite, exposing tensions in the government over recent political developments.
After President Ruto struck a truce with ODM leader Raila Odinga, which saw five allies of the opposition leader named in Cabinet, there has been disquiet among some members of the Orange party, who felt the development would attract backlash from some of their supporters.
This quiet rebellion by a faction within ODM was behind the snubbing by some of the MPs of the president’s invite, the first demonstration of disapproval over ODM’s co-option in the Kenya Kwanza government.
A text message sent to some of the MPs by ODM Nairobi ODM chairman and Makadara MP, George Aladwa, indicated that the President had requested the ODM lawmakers to accompany him to inspect the Kibra Soweto East Affordable Housing Project. They were later expected to be hosted by the President at the State House for a formal engagement.
“Good morning…. I hope you have woken up well by the grace of God. Very urgent and sorry for the short notice. The President has requested we accompany him to Highrise Ward, Langata Constituency in Nairobi county at 11am then after the housing tour, we as ODM party Nairobi County Members of Parliament from Nairobi will have a sitting/meeting with H.E today Monday, 9th September 2024 at State House…,” states the text message by Mr Aladwa.
Only Mr Aladwa, Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi, Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalango (Langata), and Nairobi Woman Rep Esther Passaris accompanied the President and later attended the State House meeting.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who is also the ODM Secretary General, MPs Anthony Oluoch (Mathare), Peter Orero (Kibra), Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Tom Kajwang’ (Ruaraka) and Tim Wanyonyi (Westlands) did not attend.
Mr Sifuna described the invite as ill-motivated and intended to blur the provided separation of powers between the executive and the legislature. He said that President Ruto, a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party leader, has no powers to summon ODM MPs.
Dr Ruto recently incorporated five ODM members in his Cabinet following a deal with the opposition supremo Raila Odinga, handing him a leeway to work with some of the opposition leaders.
“First of all, the President has no powers to convene members of ODM. Secondly, as a legislator, I find it repugnant to the doctrine of separation of powers for a President to summon us to the State House,’ said Mr Sifuna.
“I found the invitation extremely disrespectful and ill-motivated to perpetuate nefarious political ends,” he added.
Mr Owino said he can only have a meeting with President Ruto when his Kenya Kwanza administration delivers on its promises to the people. Mr Owino is among ODM MPs perceived to have not embraced the broad-based government by President Ruto and Mr Odinga.
On the day Mr Odinga was being officially unveiled for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship at State House, he was accompanying other opposition leaders in installing Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to take over Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leadership from Mr Odinga. He said he has chosen to be with the people.
“You can’t be on both sides. At the moment I am with the people, so until such a time when Ruto starts working for the people, I can sit with him at the same table. If he is not working for the people, then there is nothing I can discuss with him,” said Mr Owino.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who also attended the housing project launch as well as the State House meeting, said some of the MPs missed because the invite was on short notice and ‘pretty impromptu’, stating that only those who were around managed to show up.
The county boss said that there was a plan for another meeting between the President and all Nairobi elected leaders to discuss development projects.
“We just went for lunch after the inspection of the affordable housing project in Langata. We will have the official engagement in the next few days. We have seen the President engaging other counties and their leadership before developmental tours and felt that Nairobi should not miss out,” said Governor Sakaja.
In response to politicians against the truce between the President and Mr Odinga, Mr Sakaja said, “the broad-based government is the DNA of our political reality in Nairobi. We have members from all parties. Let us all work together for the sake of our people. Nairobians stand to benefit greatly.”
ODM leaders named in the broad-based cabinet are former deputy party leaders Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, former ODM National Chairman John Mbadi, and former Secretary of Political Affairs Opiyo Wandayi, as well as former member of the party's elections board, Ms Beatrice Askul.
A senior ODM official on Monday told Nation that the current scenario in the party is that of a divided house.
“What we have now is ODM in Government (ODM-IG) and ODM in Opposition (ODM-IO),” the senior official quipped.
During the housing project inspection, President Ruto said his administration is ‘determined to eliminate slums from our cities and towns to ensure Kenyans live in decent, dignified homes with guaranteed social amenities. This will be achieved through the Affordable Housing Programme.’
“In Kibra, Nairobi County inspected the ongoing construction of the 4,054-unit Kibra Soweto East Affordable Housing Project. Construction for the 15,000 units Phase II project will commence before the end of the year, while Phase III, for 20,000 units, will start in January next year. We will also build 40000 units to accommodate families moved from riparian reserves in Nairobi County,” said President Ruto.
