Raila Odinga
Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has backed the statement by ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna as he issued a stern warning to ODM members, urging them not to join President William Ruto’s regime.
In a statement by Azimio on Tuesday, July 23, the former Prime Minister clarified that he had not forwarded any names to the President for appointment to the cabinet.
Raila said his position and that of the ODM party was that there were critical outstanding issues that needed to be addressed by the government before any form of engagement would be entered into.
Raila emphasised that both the ODM party and the Azimio coalition were in solidarity with the issues raised by Gen-Z, which seeks to address long-standing governance problems.
“Our commitment to the issues being championed by Gen-Z remains unwavering. These are the same issues we have been fighting for for a long time, including during last year’s Maandamano protests,” Odinga said.
Odinga said he had proposed a national convention to give all Kenyans an opportunity to find a lasting solution to these long-standing issues and discuss a way forward.
He identified procurement and revenue collection as a major source of corruption, contributing to Kenya’s economic and political crisis.
“We know exactly where the problems lie in this government and the loopholes that successive governments have exploited to plunder taxpayers’ money. These problems were addressed during the Government of National Unity, which led to economic growth under Kibaki’s administration. Unfortunately, these problems have resurfaced and the Gen-Z movement is right to demand an end to them,” Odinga added.
Odinga further clarified that the purpose of the convention is not to produce new reports, but to look at modalities to implement over 26 reports that have been produced at taxpayers’ expense since Kenya’s independence but remain unimplemented.
