State House Insider Gives Condition to Support Ruto-Raila Alliance

Deputy President William Ruto (Left) and ODM leader Raila Odinga at the late Kenneth Matiba's home.
Deputy President William Ruto (Left) and ODM leader Raila Odinga at the late Kenneth Matiba's home in 2018
File

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s camp has expressed concern about reports of a possible alliance between his handshake partner Raila Odinga and his estranged Deputy President William Ruto.

Sources close to the two Building Bridges Initiative principals told the media that President Kenyatta had called for a meeting with Odinga over the weekend to iron out the concerns.

Jubilee Vice Chair David Murathe said that the only way an alliance between Ruto and Raila would get a green light from the president’s side is if the ODM leader would be the flag bearer in the 2022 elections.

Jubilee Vice Chairperson David Murathe speaking to the press in a past briefing
Jubilee Vice Chairperson David Murathe speaking to the press in a past briefing
Facebook

He added that ODM Deputy Party leader Wycliffe Oparanya’s meeting with Ruto was suspect in that the Kakamega Governor had initially claimed the meeting happened by chance but in another interview said the ODM leader was aware of it.

“Oparanya is telling us it was a chance meeting and at the same time saying that Jakom (Raila) was aware. Others are also telling us that Oparanya is not with Jakom. Now, who do you believe? We will wait to hear from the horse's mouth,” David Murathe told journalists.

“I take my brief from two people, Uhuru and Jakom, and I can tell you the handshake is intact. And by the way, if they want an alliance, provided they make Jakom the president, we have no problem with it,” he added.

The Ruto-Oparanya meeting at Maasai Mara comes in the backdrop of the Kakamega governor's bombshell that the BBI was not a priority due to the pandemic, a position also held by the deputy president.

In the rendezvous between the two rivals-turned-brothers, Odinga is expected to clear the air on whether he was planning to work with Ruto, with State House jittery that a collaboration would throw the BBI process into jeopardy.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has expressed hope that the BBI bill in Parliament will be passed setting the stage for a referendum.

According to Dennis Waweru, the BBI Secretariat co-chair, the plans for a plebiscite were still in place despite the uncertain future caused by the third wave of the Covid-19 virus.

“We are confident that we are on course and we will still stick within the timelines we had given earlier. 

"We had indicated that we wanted to push this process through and ensure that by June or July we should be headed to a referendum,” the former MP said. 

 c
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga at KICC in Nairobi for the National launch of BBI signatures collection exercise. November 25, 2020.
PSCU
  • .