Tuesday eleventh March, 2025 02:35 PM|
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has defended his recent political agreement with President William Ruto, asserting that it was Ruto who approached him, not the opposite approach round.
Speaking on the burial of Lewis Wilkinson Kimani Waiyaki on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, Raila addressed the rising criticism from a few of his supporters who really feel betrayed by his newfound cooperation with the federal government.
“Many people are making noise here and there that Raila has gone to Ruto, that I have abandoned them. I have not gone to Ruto; he came to me,” Odinga said.
The veteran opposition chief maintained that his core ideas stay unchanged regardless of the brand new political association.
“I have remained steadfast; my stance has not changed. The most important thing since I was born until now is that I have been fighting for the rights of all Kenyans,” he stated.
Raila referenced the protests that his coalition led final 12 months, highlighting the problems they raised about the price of residing, election transparency, corruption, and tribalism.
“We all went out to the streets fighting for Kenyans, saying the cost of living had risen. We demanded that the servers be opened, we said corruption had increased and tribalism had worsened. Didn’t we say all those things?” he requested.
He famous that the formation of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) stemmed from these protests, and emphasised that the essential points raised throughout that interval stay unresolved, forming the idea of his current agreement with President Ruto.
“We have said that sensitive issues remain unaddressed until they are resolved. But they cannot be resolved if people do not come together to talk and look at how things should be,” Raila defined.
The opposition chief advised that the federal government’s willingness to interact with him got here from a place of vulnerability.
“That is why these fellows, when they were caught in the cold, came to our side, and I said let’s make all these corrections. You have seen what we have written – all ten items are what we have been demanding, and they have promised to fulfil them,” he stated.
Raila urged Kenyans to provide the settlement an opportunity, emphasizing that the opposition’s core calls for had been acknowledged within the doc signed with Ruto’s administration.
He asserted that the settlement offers a chance for reform forward of the subsequent common election.
“Now we say we are giving them an opportunity to make corrections. The election will come in 2027, and citizens will decide for themselves. But from here until then, we don’t want our citizens to continue suffering,” he said.
Ruto-Raila pact
On Friday, March 7, 2025, President Ruto and Raila Odinga signed a framework settlement aimed toward establishing collaboration between the Kenya Kwanza coalition and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) get together in authorities.
The settlement, titled “Understanding to Resolve the Social and Political Challenges Facing Kenyans,” seeks to deal with ten key points affecting the Kenyan inhabitants.
This pact goals to expedite the complete implementation of the NADCO report, promote inclusivity in public life, strengthen devolution, defend the livelihoods of younger folks, uphold management and integrity, safeguard the appropriate to peaceable meeting and protest, deal with the nationwide debt, fight corruption, remove public useful resource wastage, improve authorities effectivity, and defend the sovereignty of the folks, the rule of legislation, and constitutionalism.
Betrayal
Speaking on March 7, 2025, Wiper Party chief Kalonzo Musyoka described Raila’s union with Ruto as the largest betrayal of Kenyans.
“What has come out of KICC today is the biggest betrayal of Kenyans. The People’s Loyal Coalition will never betray Kenyans for temporary comfort,” Kalonzo said.
He identified that Raila can be betraying Kenyans if he fails to advocate for compensation for these killed and injured throughout the Finance Bill protests.
“If out of what they are signing at KICC, they do not come with a formula on how to address the injustice meted on Kenyans on June 25 and 2023 that will be betrayal in the city. Handshake or no handshake, Ruto must go.”
In an announcement on Monday, March 10, 2025, Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni additionally termed Raila’s pact with Ruto a betrayal of Kenyans and his Azimio coalition partners.
“This is quite a level of betrayal—not just to us but to Kenyans who entrusted the law that they gave to us when we put ourselves together as Azimio,” Kioni said.
He defined that Jubilee felt significantly let down as a result of Raila’s actions contradicted his earlier commitments to Azimio.
“As Jubilee, we also feel betrayed because once you are in an agreement and there is a way of managing the agreement, you know the other parties have been saying that we have left Azimio and they do it through the form of arrangement,” he added.