Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has moved to tame a growing rebellion within his party, doubling down on assertions that he supported President William Ruto and the broad-based government they firmed up last March.
In a move seen as aimed at piling pressure on the president, Raila wants Ruto to implement a 10-point memorandum of understanding of cooperation they signed in March.
The Orange Democratic Movement's Central Management Committee said Tuesday that it wants a technical team set up between the opposition party and the United Democratic Alliance as part of a "political infrastructure to assist with the implementation of the agreement." The committee did not specify actions to be taken if UDA went back on the MoU, with Sifuna saying ODM supports Raila's decision to work with the ruling administration to "stabilise the country and create an enabling environment for Kenyans to address their concerns through democratic and constitutional means." ODM wants the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report implemented fully, a target that Dr Ruto is unlikely to achieve.
For instance, the document demands an audit of the 2022 electoral process and addressing cost-of-living issues, which have significantly contributed to waves of anti-government protests since 2023. "Of great concern is the… promotion and protection of the livelihoods of young people, the right to peaceful assembly and protests, the rule of law and constitutionalism, and corruption and wastage of public resources," Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said in a statement after the tense meeting in Nairobi, which he described as having featured "frank and open deliberations." The committee had cited the lack of a structured implementation framework as slowing progress.
