Azimio summit grills Raila over his dalliance with the President

Members of the Azimio La Umoja coalition summit Wednesday carpeted their boss Raila Odinga over his dalliance with President William Ruto after a secret pact that saw four of his party members nominated as Cabinet Secretaries.

During the three-hour meeting held at the Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (SKM) command center in Karen, the Azimio principals quizzed Raila on why he engaged the President in the most clandestine manner and without consulting his co-principals.

The coalition principals who included Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Gideon Moi (Kanu), Peter Munya (PNU), Jeremiah Kioni (Jubilee) wanted Raila to cede the parliamentary positions to the rest of the members arguing his party, ODM, could not have one leg in the opposition and the other inside government.

“We asked Raila whether it could be tenable for ODM to continue holding parliamentary positions that are a preserve of the Opposition parties in Parliament while four of his ODM party officials have crossed over to the government,” one of the coalition principals told The Standard on phone.

Other leaders who attended the summit included Azimio’s Political Affairs Secretary Fred Okango and Siaya Governor James Orengo, who has been a harsh critic of the move by his party to join government, maintaining that taking a cabinet position in the name of ODM betrayed the principles of the Constitution and the progressive movement which the ODM represented.

Party positions

While explaining himself, Raila reportedly informed his co-principals that it was a personal decision of his allies to join the government adding that although he had been consulted over the move, he had not given his final say and hence, they did not have his final blessings.

“On whether his party could continue holding key positions that will enable the Opposition to hold the government into account, Raila said the party would meet and make a decision that would then be relayed to us,” another source who attended the summit said.

The summit also pressed Raila for a transition of leadership of the Azimio following his African Union Commission (AUC) bid and his ODM members joining the government.

The leaders told Raila that it would be too hard for him to explain the circumstances that saw his allies nominated to serve in the government and reiterated that they would continue criticizing the government despite the move by his allies and the government’s wishes to campaign for his bid.

Should ODM cede some of its positions as a result of working with government, the move would be interpreted as a transition of Raila as the Azimio leader, another strategy that Kalonzo has been pushing to edge out Raila, who has also declared his intention to vie for (AUC) chairperson bid.

Already, some of the political parties within Azimio have declared Kalonzo as the de facto leader of the Azimio while at the same time wishing Raila well following his new found alliance with the Kenya Kwanza administration.

The political parties which included Jubilee, Eugene Wamalwa’s Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K) and Wiper on July 26, said they would only recognize Kalonzo as their leader going forward.

 “We know that Raila’s quest for the AUC leadership will enter a critical stage beginning next month. We all wish him luck as he prepares to take on continental duties. We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our leader, (Raila), who has led our coalition successfully since its formation,” the Azimio leaders said in a joint statement that was read by Kioni.

They continued: “As you have witnessed in the recent past, Kalonzo has continued to lead us while Raila has been out seeking for the leadership of the African Union. We continue to ask him to guide us as a coalition even as Raila gets to enter the critical stage of his bid for the AUC.”

He added: “May I also tell Kenyans that you are looking at the alternative government. What is before you today and many others will be joining us and the ones who will be forming the government because Ruto has completely failed in any attempt that he has made.

However, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua did not show up at the summit even as her party last week announced intentions to exit from the Azimio coalition claiming it was no longer tenable for her party to continue being in the coalition due to the unfolding political events.”

Meeting disrupted

Wednesday’s summit came two weeks after the Azimio Parliamentary Group meeting ended in disarray after goons stormed the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation just as Kalonzo was about to read the resolution to oppose the Kenya Kwanza administration overtures to join government. 

He attempted to do so in the absence of Raila, who reportedly had to leave early for an “urgent” meeting, according to the Wiper boss.

Azimio consequently suspended the address but later issued a statement highlighting resolutions from the PG meeting, key among them that the coalition would not be part of the proposed broad-based government mooted by President William Ruto in the aftermath of the nationwide demos. “For the avoidance of doubt, the Azimio-OKA coalition will not be part of the proposed broad based or any other government with the Kenya Kwanza coalition,” said Azimio in the statement.