Raila faces defections over deal with Ruto

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's commitment to support President Wiliam Ruto until 2027 has widened cracks in ODM. [File, Standard] 

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is facing a rebellion within his Orange Democratic Movement party over his association with President William Ruto.

Raila risks defections from his party, driven by lawmakers who oppose a memorandum of understanding between ODM and Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance.

Equally contributing to the friction is Raila's commitment to support the President until 2027. Explosive revelations by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, also ODM secretary general, show Raila faces a growing push to abandon Ruto.

In an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Sifuna contradicted Raila’s position to support Ruto until 2027, which he termed “unfortunate” and a cause of constant confusion within the opposition outfit.

He painted his resistance, driven by other politicians within ODM, as aimed at “rescuing” the party from sinking with Ruto, who Sifuna believes will lose the next election.

“If a decision is taken to support President William Ruto for 2027, that is something I cannot personally abide by, and I am sure everybody would respect that,” said Sifuna, adding that he would resign as secretary general if his party were to back Ruto. “But since that decision has not been made, I am holding out that there is still time for us to correct course.”

In an interview on NTV on Sunday, Raila finally admitted to being a part of Ruto’s “broad-based” government, a position he said would not change until 2027. “We did not say we are going to work with UDA beyond 2027. Those are issues we will discuss at the appropriate time, and the decision will be made by party members,” said Raila.

He would also leave the door open for a sixth stab at the presidency, which Sifuna argued would be dented if Raila were to stick with Ruto until the next polls, citing the need to prepare adequately.

“Preparation for elections take time. The worry would be that we would lose that opportunity to not only extricate ourselves from this unpopular regime, but also to explain to the people what we have been doing with Ruto all these years,” said Sifuna, who touted Ruto’s ouster in 2027 as an urgent agenda.

The Nairobi senator, who has been critical of Ruto, attracting enemies within ODM, described the opposition party as a force for good that risks tainting its legacy by associating with the current regime, which he accused of committing atrocities against Kenyans.

ODM party leader Raila Odinga waves at his supporters as he stralled along CBD street. [File, Standard]

“My position has always been that ODM stands a very good chance of winning the elections in 2027,” said Sifuna. “We have good people in this party who can run the country.”

His remarks are reminiscent of similar warnings about Raila’s handshake with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, which made the former prime minister blamed for some of the failures of the Jubilee government, partly contributing to Raila’s loss to Ruto in 2022.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, who said he had opposed Raila’s 2018 handshake with Uhuru, argued that ODM’s values do not marry with UDA’s, and warned that he could defect from ODM if it were to decide to back Ruto’s re-election.

“We left all other parties, 92 of them, because ODM stood on ideologies that we thought would transform this country,” said Amisi. “We have gone against the ideologies we stood for (by associating with Ruto).”

He said he has only stuck in ODM because Raila is a “mentor” and said he had urged the former premier to allow him to “tell Kenyans that William Ruto is not the best president you can have at the moment.”

Sifuna and Amisi belong to a faction within ODM christened ODM-in-opposition, which also features Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and Siaya Governor James Orengo, among other politicians. A different faction, ODM-in-government, has openly endorsed Ruto’s re-election bid.

“We hold onto the MoU our leader signed with the President at the KICC, not anyone else is saying out there, which is their right," said Makadara MP George Aladwa. “We are firmly behind Ruto and we will not move from here.”

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, formerly ODM’s chairperson, said Sifuna should respect the hierarchy within ODM. “Between the Party Leader and the Secretary General, whose decision is final?” Ramogi TV quoted Mbadi as saying. “I’m glad he clarified those are his personal opinions.”

Political commentator Herman Manyora argued that amid public pressure, Raila could be pushed to abandon Ruto, but warned that the former PM could lose allies if he does not tame the dissent within ODM.

“You cannot ignore the young politicians… if you have people like Sifuna or Babu singing a different song, that could influence where the people go,” said Manyora.

Additional reporting by Omondi Powel