ODM Party Leader swings between accepting talks, taking lucrative positions in Cabinet and yielding to demands of popular youth movement against government of William Ruto
By THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
Raila Odinga last weekend was sending mixed signals as he led calls for the dissolution of Parliament and fresh elections to follow following the recent storming of Parliament and the persistent protests driven and led by the youth. He spoke soon after announcing that his party, ODM, would join the government of President William Ruto in talks to discuss the future of Kenya following the recent protests that have shaken the Ruto administration to its foundation.
Speaking at the funeral of a brother of former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya in Butere, Raila said that by storming Parliament and the Supreme Court during the recent protests, the people had passed a vote of no confidence in Parliament and it therefore had no legitimacy. He also demanded that after the exist of former Police Inspector General Japhet Koome, the minister who was then in charge of internal security, Prof. Kithure Kindiki, had to be arrested and charged for the recent crimes against the people of Kenya.
Calling Nairobi regional police boss Adamson Bungei “very foolish”, Raila also demanded that he should be arrested and prosecuted for his alleged crimes
Narrating the events of that Tuesday, June 25, 2024 when thousands of protestors stormed Parliament after it passed the controversial Finance Bill 2024, Raila said the people had passed a vote of no confidence in the current parliament and led the crowd in calling for the exit of all governors and MCAs to pave way for fresh elections.
Raila seemed to have been responding to strong rejections of dialogue with the Ruto administration, which he and his party stalwarts had supported earlier last week. The rejections wee made by, among others, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Lugari MP Nabwera Nabii, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, DAP Kenya Party Leader Eugene Wamalwa, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni and Roots Party Leader George Luchiri Wajackoya.
Raila had earlier appeared to swing between accepting the talks, which have been wholesomely rejected by youthful Kenyans as unnecessary and a trick to buy time and defuse the tension and anger, as some of his party stalwarts, like former Governors Oparanya and Ali Hassan Joho, both implicated in corruption allegations in their counties, appeared to prepare to take up positions in the reconstituted Cabinet of William Ruto. Raila’s elder brother and Siaya Senator Dr. Oburu Oginga, who often speaks Raila’s mind on contentious issues and is often used to test the waters, spoke out in support of their party, ODM, being incorporated into the government.