Raila responds on Prime Minister deal with Ruto in bipartisan talks
Raila led camp responds on Prime Minister and official leader of opposition deal with Ruto in bipartisan talks
Raila led camp responds on Prime Minister and official leader of opposition deal with Ruto in bipartisan talks.
On Saturday, May 6, Azimio la Umoja endeavored to dispel rumors that the coalition and the Kenya Kwanza administration had achieved an agreement regarding the creation of the positions of Official Leader of Opposition and Prime Minister.
On Friday, May 5, reports claimed that a committee in the National Assembly had agreed to create the two offices to ensure that the government is kept under check and balance.
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi told the media that the position of prime minister was not on the table as was alleged.
“No, no! There’s no arrangement to recreate the position of the Prime Minister. i do not know any of such arrangements,” he stated.
The Minority Leader in the National Assembly noted that any agreement with President William Ruto or his government will be communicated clearly to the public.
“You also know that I am not part of the bipartisan team. I do not sit in the said committee which allegedly discussed the matters,” Wandayi responded.
“But we have nothing to hide. We will tell our members of all agreements that shall have been reached within the Bi-partisan Committee or in the National Assembly,” Wandayi stated.
In the meantime, Wandayi told Kenyans to pay attention to the talks within the Bi-partisan committee.
“Our team will report to us whenever they have something concrete,” he added, when asked to clarify the two parties agreeing to appoint secretaries outside Parliament.
The bipartisan parliamentary committee reportedly settled on having joint secretaries nominated outside Parliament to guide it on its mandate and terms engagements.
Kenya Kwanza appointed lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu while Azimio settled on lawyer Paul Mwangi.
Appointing secretaries outside Parliament was one of the demands fronted by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
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Raila, as soon as the bipartisan talks commenced, called for dialogues akin to the 2008 National Accord which created the Grand Coalition of Powers.
Raila was appointed Prime Minister as Mwai Kibaki retained the presidency.
Kenya Kwanza, however, rejected such a similar dialogue – then mediated by former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan- arguing that Raila was after a power-sharing formula.
Raila, however, clarified that he was not interested in pushing for a PM post or the Office of the Opposition leader.
The debate on creating an official Office of the Opposition leader began after the August 2022 elections, before Kenya Kwanza and Azimio were embroiled in the bipartisan talks drama.
In Parliament, the opposition is represented by its minority leaders responsible for leading the legislative agenda and representing dissenting opinions.
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