Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi on Friday took cue from senior politicians allied to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and threw his weight behind the broad-based government formed by President William Ruto.
Speaking at Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi's thanksgiving ceremony held in Ugunja to celebrate the former National Assembly Minority Leader's appointment to the cabinet, Atandi expressed his delight at President Ruto's decision to tap opposition members to help him realise his agenda.
Atandi, while making his remarks boldly proclaimed that a government can only be bad if you are not part of it.
"The government is only bad is you are not part of it, if you are outside and do not have anybody representing your interests. When the government does not talk to you then that government is bad,"
"But when that government has your people inside. The way Mbadi, Raymond Omollo and my brother Opiyo Wandayi are inside, the government cannot be bad. The government now is good. That is the message," he added.
The lawmaker proceeded to state that ODM politicians have committed to support its members appointed to serve in the cabinet.
"We are committing to support our people in government. Our people, we are going to rally behind you, because we want you to deliver, in line with baba's (Raila Odinga) statement that we have sent experts into the executive," he stated.
The statements by Atandi follow a script laid out by Wandayi himself who, during the same event declared that ODM, going forward, will always be in government and never in the opposition.
In Wandayi's view, ODM has for far too long been out of government when the party has the numbers and political capital to form government in every electoral cycle.
"For us, this is the turning point. We are saying in one accord as members of this community that never again shall we find ourselves outside government," Wandayi stated.
Despite holding firm on this stance, the outgoing Ugunja MP however assured Kenyans that the broad-based government has its eyes firmly trained on ensuring it serves Kenyans across all parts of Kenya equally.
"We want to say that as we start this journey, we are going to ensure that whatever development agenda that we have as a government is an agenda that we will extend to every corner of this country without exception," he stated.
Wandayi was one of the four senior ODM officials who were appointed to serve in President Ruto's cabinet. Others include; John Mbadi (Treasury) and former governors Hassan Joho (Mining) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs).
