Sifuna - ODM has not joined Ruto's government

Piece by: BRIAN ORUTA

25 July 2024

• He clarified that the ODM party has only called for a national conversation, which has been misinterpreted as a dialogue between ODM and the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna, has asserted that the party has not joined President William Ruto's government.

Speaking on Thursday, Sifuna emphasized that no party organ has approved joining President Ruto's administration.

"As secretary-general, I sit in all organs of the party and I am the spokesperson of all those organs. Kenyans just want someone to tell them the truth, and there has been a lot of speculation about the significance of what happened yesterday (Wednesday)," Sifuna said on Citizen TV.

"The truth of the matter is that there is no decision from any organ of ODM that I sit in to join the Ruto government."

He went on to say that there has been a deliberate effort to paint the ODM party in a bad light since party leader Raila Odinga attended the signing of the IEBC Bill into law at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

Sifuna accused the media of misrepresenting the party's position on the matter.

"I think there has been a deliberate effort to misrepresent the position of the party, especially in the print media," he added. "I'm not happy with the way the media has chosen to report the matters that have happened in the past few weeks."

He clarified that the ODM party has only called for a national conversation, which has been misinterpreted as a dialogue between ODM and the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

His remarks come after President Ruto picked ODM deputy party leaders Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, chairman John Mbadi, and National Assembly minority leader Opiyo Wandayi to join his Cabinet.

Joho was nominated as CS for Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs; Wycliffe Oparanya for Cooperatives and MSME Development; John Mbadi for National Treasury; and Opiyo Wandayi for Energy and Petroleum. The four joined 16 other nominees picked by Ruto as he reconstituted his cabinet.

Sifuna, however, described the decision for the four to join Ruto's cabinet as personal and lacking the party's blessing.