The deal, which was
entered between President William Ruto and the late ODM leader Raila Odinga,
saw the government get a boost in and out of the House.
Touted as a deal to
bring stability following tumultuous 2024 anti-government protests to oppose
the then Finance Bill, the deal seemed to have weakened the opposition and
parliamentary oversight.
President William
Ruto expanded his government to include the ‘experts’ donated by his hitherto
rival turned ally, leading to what Ruto himself formerly referred to as a
‘mongrel of Parliament’ during the handshake period of 2018-22.
As nature abhors a
vacuum, however, a group of MPs, mostly youthful, is emerging to fill the
vacancy left by the broad-based deal, and attempting to keep the government of
the day on its toes.
The leaders, who cut
across the ranks of both ODM and UDA in the House, resorted to both Parliament
and political rallies to call out the government.
But they seem to
have resigned to the fact that challenging the UDA dominance can only be
possible at the ballot in the next elections.
The MPs include
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and his Kisii and Busia counterparts Richard
Onyonka and Okiya Omtatah respectively.
Others are Nyamira’s
Okongo Omogeni, Kitui’s Enock Wambua, Kiambu’s Karugo Thang’wa, Muranga’s Joe
Nyutu and Nyandarua’s John Methu.
In the National
Assembly, the MPs seeming to identify with the group include Gathoni Wamuchomba
(Githunguri), Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Saboti’s Caleb Amisi and Nyali’s
Mohamed Ali.
Others are Kitutu
Chache South MP Antony Kibagendi, Clive Gisairo (Kitutu Masaba), Obadia Barongo
(Bomachoge Borabu), Wilberforce Oundo (Funyula), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Suba
South MP Karoli Omondi.
Kibagendi says the
movement will grow as the country heads to 2027. “We are determined to check
the excesses of this government without relenting,” he said.
Knowing their
numerical disadvantage, the MPs have resorted to press conferences and rallies
to raise their voices on matters they consider to be of national importance.
Such issues include
the ongoing debate on privatisation of parastatals and the sale of Safaricom
shares, with Nyoro and Omondi being the most vocal in questioning the legality
and commercial viability of the Safaricom sale.
Nyoro has dared
Treasury CS John Mbadi to a TV debate to discuss the pros and cons of the
transfer of Kenyan government-held shares by South Africa’s Vodafone.
“I want to
respectfully tell my brother Mbadi from this platform that I have taken up the
challenge. When you are ready, I am ready, on a TV station of your choice,”
Nyoro said on December 6.
“And as you come,
come with all the stakeholders involved in the sale of Safaricom because we are
not doing it for politics.”
Omondi, meanwhile,
criticised the government’s divestiture from Safaricom, warning that the
proposed “enhanced strategic sale” model could entrench inequality, diminish
public ownership and open the door to state capture through opaque dealings.
“There was a
sweetheart deal between the elites of the time and Vodafone,” the Suba South MP
said.
“Mobitelea was a
front for Kenyan politicians. We should ask what happened to those shares. We
owe Kenyans full transparency. No hidden beneficiaries, no backroom deals.”
Other issues the MPs
have taken on the government about include the controversial Social Health
Authority, the new education funding model and the affordable housing policy.
“The biggest problem
in this country is William Ruto,” Kibagendi says.
“He has captured
Parliament and is now swearing that any of us not supporting him won’t be
re-elected, so you wonder what he will do.”
Former Labour CS
Justin Muturi believes, too, that Ruto has overrun Parliament, and that the
only option is to wait for 2027 to deal with him.
“Our Parliament is
weak and cannot oversight Ruto and his administration. Kenyans can only punish
or stop Ruto at the ballot in 2027,” he says.
Former Transport PS
Irungu Nyakera, who is eyeing the Nairobi governor seat, says, “The executive
now legislates and does everything. It is the President who legislates,
oversees and implements laws.”
He said the biggest
problem is a lack of political will.
“The MPs are
supposed to be speaking out. They are elected to legislate and oversee, but
they allow the executive to run over them and get muzzled,” he says.
While others fight
in rallies, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has continued the trajectory from his
activism days by filing a series of cases challenging Ruto’s policies.
His latest is a
petition in the High Court seeking an order to stop a deal entered by the US
and the Kenyan government valued at about Sh208 billion.
Omtatah is also in
court seeking to nullify a provision in the Election Act that creates the
National Tallying Centre and subsequent appointment of the IEBC chairman as the
national returning officer of a presidential election.
He wants the court
to reaffirm the constitutional provision that declarations by the constituency
returning officers cannot be altered or verified, as often happens at the Bomas
NTC.
