Raila’s headache as ODM rebel MPs form ‘liberation group’
3 min read
ODM rebel MPs to form anti-Raila 'liberation group' with the help of President William Ruto’s administration
ODM rebel MPs to form anti-Raila ‘liberation group’ with the help of President William Ruto’s administration.
Raila Odinga is currently facing a new uprising in his home county of Nyanza as ODM rebel MPs consider organizing a “liberation force” to reduce Azimio leader Raila Odinga to size with the assistance of President William Ruto’s administration.
According to reports, the name was chosen to represent initiatives to “liberate” the region from Mr. Odinga’s rule.
William Ruto has been reaching out to opposition MPs to neutralize Raila Odinga amid his calls for resistance against the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Ruto has held talks and won over former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee MPs and he is also courting some ODM lawmakers from Nyanza whom Mr. Odinga has since branded as “rebels” not committed to his cause.
The ‘liberation group’ is reportedly chaired by Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda with Lang’ata MP Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o as its secretary.
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In an interview with Daily Nation, Mr. Ochanda who was last Monday ejected as ODM branch secretary and replaced by East Yimbo MCA Francis Otiato at an event presided over by Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga fell short of declaring the existence of the ‘liberation group’ in the region.
Whereas the MP revealed that his counterparts who attended the State House meeting had not started a rebellion, the current circumstances would force them to do so.
“We haven’t gone that direction yet. Not yet, but can’t be ruled out under the circumstances,” Mr. Ochanda said.
Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir, an Independent MP who was also among the Nyanza lawmakers who attended the State House meeting, however, told Nation he was aware of a caucus chaired by Mr. Ochanda.
“I am not in the caucus but I know Ochanda is the chairman. I was told that he is the chairman of the caucus but I even told the President at the time that I had come to meet him as an Independent and not as a member of any caucus,” Mr. Shabbir said.
Other MPs who attended the State House meeting are Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), and Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda. They have all also distanced themselves from the group.
Political analysts think Mr. Odinga’s potential political retirement is the cause of the region’s smoldering uprising against him.
Gitile Naituli, a lecturer at Multimedia University, claims that even Mr. Odinga’s recent approval for his allies to receive the President in his Nyanza backyard before he declared resistance against Dr. Ruto’s administration was a strategic retreat to prevent the rebels from claiming credit for any positive outcomes.
“Ruto’s propaganda machine wanted ODM to boycott and then portray ODM as anti-development,” he said.
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