President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga on Monday stared down at hostile MPs when a joint Parliamentary Group meeting turned stormy due to sustained accusations of bribery.
Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga said that the corruption in Parliament was no longer acceptable.
Their remarks upset senators and Members of the National Assembly from the President’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and ODM, who had gathered for the inaugural joint PG meeting at KCB Leadership Centre in Karen, Nairobi.
Some lawmakers openly heckled the two principals — infuriated by the anecdotal illustration of the bribery schemes in the House. Mr Odinga’s insistence that MPs have no business running the National Government-Constituency Fund kitty further angered the lawmakers. Some walked out before the meeting ended.
The polarised atmosphere sabotaged a plenary discussion on the meeting’s main agenda — to craft a roadmap for the implementation of a 10-point pact between the two parties that informed their cooperation in the broad-based government.
At some point — while in the middle of their speeches — the two leaders were shouted down by the angry members. Some could be heard saying, “tired of boring lectures”, as others shouted “one-term” to the President’s face.
While President Ruto braved the heckling, Mr Odinga pleaded with the lawmakers to allow him to finish his remarks. But his plea fell on deaf ears.
In his speech, Mr Odinga claimed senators were demanding as much as Sh150 million from the governors they summoned to respond to county audit queries. This did not go down well with the lawmakers. The ODM leader was forced to cut short his speech due to heckling.
Mr Odinga also told off members of the National Assembly, saying that they had no role in the management of the National Government-Constituency Fund.
The veteran opposition leader accused the lawmakers of demanding bribes from individuals appearing before them, to manipulate an agenda before the House or come up with favourable committee reports.
Trouble started when the Senate Leader of Majority Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho senator) requested Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga to address extortion claims made against lawmakers during the recently concluded devolution conference in Homa Bay County.
President William Ruto chairs a joint ODM–Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting in Karen alongside opposition leader Raila Odinga on August 18, 2025.
Photo credit: PCS
When he rose to make his remarks, President Ruto sustained the corruption attacks against MPs. The President specifically accused senators of demanding Sh150 million bribes from governors. He threatened to have corrupt MPs arrested.
“Where does one find Sh150 million? That money belongs to the county,” he said, adding that: “Members collected Sh10 million to pass the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill.”
“Did you get the money? You are collecting money in the name of Parliament. That money gets to a few members, but it destroys the credibility of Parliament.”
Prodded to name the rogue MPs, the President, who spoke after Mr Odinga, said: “We are not going to shame them. We will arrest them.”
The President said that rogue MPs have hatched schemes to extort money from the individuals who appear before various parliamentary committees.
“Let us stop this extortion. I know very few leaders will stand up and tell you to stop extortion. These chairmen of welfare in committees, what is their job? What is ‘soko huru’ ? Let’s change,” said the President, who said that he had access to intelligence that pointed to the rot in the House.
The “soko huru” phrase was coined by Isiolo Senator Fatumo Dullo, who accused the Senate of becoming a market. That is after senators recently voted to save Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo, who was facing impeachment charges. On the other hand, in the National Assembly, every committee is reported to have a “welfare chairperson”.
“MPs should not be soliciting money from individuals who appear before them to push a certain agenda. It is a bad image. It chases away foreign investors,” Mr Odinga said.
Mr Ichung’wah appeared to defend the MPs, saying that corruption should not be confused with lobbying, which is normal.
Although Mr Odinga agreed with Mr Ichung’wah, saying that lobbying is common practice even in developed democracies like the US, there is a difference because there is an extortion syndicate in the Kenyan Parliament.
“MPs should stick to their mandate. They have no role in implementing county projects. That is the work of governors,” said Mr Odinga. “Restrict yourself to correcting the government where things go wrong.”
At this stage, MPs started walking away from the meeting. They got into their fuel guzzlers and sped off. They shrugged off an invitation from Mr Ichung’wah to have a cup of tea.
Realising the lack of interest, Mr Ichung’wah told the lawmakers to attend the plenary to agree on the implementation plan of the 10-point agenda. But the upset lawmakers were not bothered.
Mr Ichung’wah and Mr Cheruiyot did not respond to our inquiries sent to their known telephone numbers. Leader of Minority Junet Mohamed promised to call, but by the time of going to press yesterday, he had not done so.
President William Ruto chairs a joint ODM–Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting in Karen on August 18, 2025.
Photo credit: PCS
“Some claimed that “the leaders are the ones who use money to push their agendas in Parliament.” Others believe the two leaders’ hardline position was possibly because they are setting the stage for a purge in the House leadership.
Sources said that MPs from regions that are hostile to the government were disappointed with the blunt attacks.
“The meeting aborted because they were so rough on us. They lectured us like kindergarten children. That was the same thing that immediate former President Uhuru Kenyatta did and ended up losing the loyalty of Parliament to Ruto, who was the Deputy President then,” an MP who did not want to go on record said.
“Usually in such meetings, we get to the plenary and come up with resolutions on how issues can be addressed. But this did not happen. The atmosphere was poisoned by our leaders. Let them have a taste of their own medicine,” he added.
Another MP, who did not want his identity revealed, fearing reprisal from the principals, said; “We left the room after being treated like rags.”
“Our bosses treated us like garbage. That is the reason they were heckled because of the resistance they caused in the room,” the MP said.
Later, a statement was sent from the UDA secretariat affirming the commitment to implement the 10-point agenda.
“We affirm our collective responsibility to ensure the full and timely implementation of the agreed 10-point agenda. The cornerstone of our joint legislative and development programme,” the statement read.
“We shall prioritise legislation, oversight and resource allocation that facilitates delivery of key pillars including economic growth, social justice, job creation, healthcare, education, infrastructure development, agriculture, good governance and empowerment of youth and women.”
While undertaking to implement the Nadco report, the statement noted that, “a retreat for a PG shall be organised later in the year as part of the conscious steps to build harmony and streamline working operations to achieve all the objectives as underscored in the MoU.”
But some lawmakers who attended the PG dismissed the statement as “a figment of their leaders’ fertile imagination.”
“What we know is that the meeting ended on a sour note after they went personal on us on alleged extortion as well as on the stand on the management of the NG-CDF. They should be candid enough and tell you why the resolutions were not read,” another MP said.
Having read the mood of the meeting, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki cautioned Kenyans against underestimating the achievements that President Ruto and Mr Odinga have made for the nation.
“We must celebrate and acknowledge the visionary leadership of President Ruto and the statesmanship of our elder brother, Raila Odinga,” said Prof Kindiki.
“Younger politicians should pick lessons from these two leaders. Managing the affairs of our country is not a small issue. There are characters running up and down who, if given a single day to run the country, will sink because they don’t have enough wisdom and foresight to run the complex society that is Kenya.”
