Yet another handshake: Ruto to hand Raila team jobs in 50-50 power deal

President William Ruto and opposition chief Raila Odinga are today expected to formalise their political marriage in a deal that will hand ODM a near-equal share of government.

The Star has established that the two leaders are set to sign a coalition agreement today — effectively removing ODM from the opposition — and ending speculations that Raila could join the ruthless campaign to make Ruto a one-term president.

The deal will be signed publicly at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

The political union is expected to immediately trigger political realignments, with the friendly fire between a section of opposition bigwigs and Raila expected to end. 

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who have been pleading with Raila to join them, now have their work cut out with the former premier also becoming a part of their political enemy.

Sources said Raila will control 50 per cent of government and is expected to nominate at least three more Cabinet Secretaries.

“The President knows that Raila is a nationalist. His appointments will reflect the face of Kenya,” a source said, adding that the new agreement is akin to the National Accord of 2008 when Raila and President Mwai Kibaki shared government.

Other positions to be shared equally include principal secretaries, parastatal and ambassadorial jobs.

Raila convened a Central Management Committee meeting of the ODM party for Friday morning ahead of the signing of the coalition agreement.

The CMC meeting will kick off at exactly 8am followed by the KICC event with the sole agenda of ratifying the agreement.

President Ruto and Raila are expected to be present to preside over the signing ceremony.

Multiple sources who spoke to the Star in confidence said as a consequence of the deal, there were expected changes in Cabinet.

“There are expected changes in Health, Water and Agriculture dockets,” the source said.

Currently Deborah Mlongo, Eric Muuga and Mutahi Kagwe head Health, Water and Agriculture, respectively.

Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is said to have tried at the last minute to dissuade Raila from the deal when the two met at the Coast this week.

Tellingly, an ODM radical youth wing christened Movement for the Defence of Democracy on Wednesday called out unnamed individuals they accused of trying to convince Raila out of the deal.

“We call upon people and regions that have never supported Raila Odinga in the past to leave him alone. We refuse the frequent attempts to use Mr Odinga and his support base as some ladder,” MDD convener Victor Marende said.

“As people and regions that have invested in and supported Mr Odinga, we have embarked on reviewing our journey in Kenya and we must be left alone, with Mr Odinga as our guide.”

The recent sharing of committee leadership in Parliament is part of the coalition deal between the President and the ODM boss.

The Orange party has assumed leadership of at least seven committees in the new power arrangement that saw lawmakers allied to Gachagua shown the door.

Some of the MPs who have been proposed for committee leadership include Sam Atandi (Budget and Appropriation), Benard Shinali (Trade), Irene Mayaka (Regional Intergration), Ken Chonga (Labour) and James Nyikal (Health). In the Senate, Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga is the new chair of the Energy committee while his Migori counterpart Eddy Oketch chairs Transport.

Others ODM senators chairing committees are Betty Montet (Education), Mohamed Faki (Lands) and Juma Boy (Trade). The deal is the culmination of Raila’s cross-country consultative meetings that have seen him visit ODM bases.

So far, the opposition leader has been to Kisumu, Siaya, Migori, Homa Bay, Busia, Mombasa, Kilifi, Wajir, Kisii, Nyamira, Narok and Nairobi counties to gather views on his next political direction.

The Nairobi consultation was set to be done late evening on Thursday after the Narok meeting.

The consultations that started in Kisumu two weeks ago were to culminate in a major declaration on Raila’s political direction.

Upon his return from Addis Ababa, various camps, including the Gachagua-led opposition, have been luring the veteran opposition chief to their side.

At one point, Gachagua declared Raila will be president in 2027 by before 11am in 2027 if he joins the anti-Ruto forces.

“Raila’s is even more exciting because Raila already has 6.8 million votes. We only beat him by 200,000 votes. If we agree to support him – I have looked at his voting patterns and he votes between 10 and 11am – he will be president before he votes,” Gachagua said last month during an interview with KTN.

On Wednesday, Raila appeared to have ruled out any deal with the impeached DP and instead hinted at formalising his relationship with President Ruto.

“The other man said he had set traps everywhere to prevent me from reaching State House for a handshake. So, do you want us to work with someone who set traps for me? I told him that is impossible,” Raila said.

“The traps set against me did not work. That is why you saw me at State House alongside other East African leaders, including President Museveni, Samia Suluhu, and Ruto.”

The Star last week reported that Ruto and Raila had formed a team of experts to cobble a coalition agreement that is being signed today.

The team is tasked with formulating a cooperation agreement that will stipulate how to share power and engagement between the two parties – ODM and UDA.

This was part of the agreement reached when the two principals met in Mombasa last week where the plan to work together was agreed.

The agreement will be signed by UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar and his ODM counterpart Senator Edwin Sifuna.

Backing the technocrats who were working on the deal were the leaders of the two houses of Parliament.

UDA is led by Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah, deputised by Owen Baya (Kilifi North) with Silvanus Osoro as the Chief Whip, deputised by Naomi Waqo in the National Assembly.

In the Senate, the ruling Kenya Kwanza is led by Aaron Cheruiyot and Boni Khalwale as Majority Leader and Chief Whip, respectively.

Raila’s ODM has Junet Mohammed (Minority Leader) and Millie Odhiambo (Minority Whip). They are deputised by Robert Mbui (Kathiani) and Mark Mwenje (Embakasi West)