The ODM Party's National Executive Committee and Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday, December 17, has thrown media houses into a spin in regard to the exact details of the matters discussed.
Reports indicated that during the ODM's top brass meeting at the Convent International Hotel in Nairobi, several recommendations that had not been included in the released BBI report were fronted.
These unclear recommendations have led to confusion, a matter that was evident when Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers ran conflicting headlines on Wednesday, December 18, 2019.
The Standard reported that the ODM team had decided to abandon a bid for a prime minister's post.
According to the newspaper, Sifuna stated that the reason behind the change of tune was because ODM had seen a need to accommodate views from other Kenyans on the matter.
"Even though that is what we presented and wanted, we must, however, be able to listen and accommodate the views of other Kenyans who presented a different opinion," Sifuna was quoted.
The Daily Nation, however, reported that the ODM Party had pushed for a powerful prime minister's post with two deputies.
The publication further reported that the opposition had made submissions and recommendations that of the two deputy prime ministers, one of them was supposed to be less than 45 years to marshall support from the youth.
"ODM's fresh demands are expected to attract opposition from Jubilee Party leaders allied to DP William Ruto, who had earlier showed lukewarm support for the BBI before changing tune after it suggested a mongrel system of government that is neither pure parliamentary nor presidential, with a weak PM," the publication wrote.
The Daily Nation indicated that ODM Party's calls were fuelled by a concern that a prime minister appointed by the president as suggested in the BBI report would have no real power and would be at the mercy of the head of state.
ODM Secretary-General Edwin Siufuna, however, in an angry rant dismissed reports by the Daily Nation as false and misleading, even as he hailed Standard's version of events.
"Papers must carry news only and not be agents of misinformation. If you are confused by the contradictory stories in today's dailies it is because Standard chose journalism while Daily Nation went with their imagination. Nothing in the Daily Nation story is factual," he tweeted on Wednesday, December 18.
