Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna on Thursday revealed that he was caught unaware of President William Ruto’s nomination of ODM luminaries to his Cabinet.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Sifuna revealed that the ODM Central Committee only met once after July 9, when Raila Odinga revealed a willingness to dialogue with President Ruto.
According to the Nairobi Senator, at that meeting, there was no agreement that ODM would clamour for ministerial positions.
“ODM has not joined the government. As the Secretary General of ODM, I sit in all organs of the party and as SG of ODM, I am the spokesperson of all those organs of the party,” he remarked.
“There has been a lot of speculation over what happened yesterday but the truth of the matter is that there is no decision of any organ of ODM that I sit in to join the Ruto government.”
President Ruto and Raila Odinga shared a podium at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on July 9, during the signing into law of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries (IEBC) Amendment Bill.
At the meeting, Raila remarked that as the opposition, they were willing to engage the government to find solutions to issues raised by protestors.
“Ever since the meeting at KICC, I think there has been a deliberate effort to misrepresent the position of the party, especially in the print media,” Sifuna shifted the blame to the media for documenting the events that led to ODM joining Ruto’s cabinet.
Sifuna confessed that the last conversation he heard about the dialogue was that Raila wanted a national conversation and it was wrong for the media to accuse him of not communicating clearly as the ODM Secretary General.
“I have been very clear in communication as SG of ODM. After KICC, he came and convened a central committee of the party because that is what he always does if we do not have an opportunity to meet before an event,” he revealed how he was in the dark about other negotiations by ODM leaders to join the Ruto’s cabinet.
While Sifuna continues to defend that ODM is not in government, he remains only the top-ranking party official who was not handed a cabinet slot.
John Mbadi (Chairman), Ali Hassan Joho (Deputy Party Leader), Wycliffe Oparanya (Deputy Party Leader) and Opiyo Wandayi (National Assembly Minority Leader and Director of Political Affairs) all have been nominated to the Cabinet…CONTINUE READING>>
