Unity government: Kalonzo's Azimio wing laughs off deal claims

A section of the opposition leaders led by Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka have maintained they will not join President William Ruto’s government.

This emerged amid reports that Musyoka’s faction of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party was reportedly warming up to Ruto in the latest developments to form a broad-based government.

On Monday, there were reports that the Wiper boss’ allied camp had agreed to enter into talks with President Ruto following a standoff with ODM leader Raila Odinga.

Raila is said to have made a haste retreat and reportedly rescinded his initial position to form a government of national unity with Kenya Kwanza after days of negotiations.

Instead, Raila tabled fresh demands that he wants the government to address including those advanced by the youthful protesters before any talks are held with the government.

Interviews gleaned from some of the Azimio leaders who had disowned Raila’s deal with Ruto revealed that they have no intention of signing a pact with the government.

“That is propaganda, we are solid in the opposition and will not join the KK (Kenya Kwanza) government," declared Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni.

Some of the Azimio parties coalescing around Kalonzo include Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee, Eugene Wamalwa’s DAP-K and Martha Karua’s Narc Kenya.

The parties had distanced themselves from an alleged deal that Raila entered into with the government which was reportedly aborted last week.

Kioni told the Star that the leadership of Azimio has not held any meeting to ratify an alleged push to have them join the government following Raila’s foiled bid.

“Nothing has changed so far and as stated earlier after our coalition meeting last week, we are in Azimio and will continue to push for reforms and Generation Z are also advancing," Kioni said.

The former Ndaragwa MP, however, insisted that those willing to join Kenya Kwanza can do so “on their individual capacities and not as part of Azimio because they are obviously betrayers".

Last week, the Kalonzo allied faction issued a terse statement distancing itself from the alleged deal between Kenya Kwanza and Raila’s camp.

"Should any of our members join the Cabinet then we shall dissociate ourselves with the decision," Kalonzo said last week moments after Ruto unveiled a section of his Cabinet.

Kalonzo insisted that they won’t hold any talks with President Ruto's administration, urging  Azimio members not to engage the government.

In another swift turn of events, ODM has affirmed that its plans for talks with the government are on course despite the move triggering an implosion in the party.

National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi who is also the secretary of political affairs for the party, on Tuesday insisted that the party has not abandoned its dialogue with the government.

The Ugunja MP said that both the ODM Central Committee and the National Executive Council pronounced themselves very clearly that they are in support of national conversation and “constructive engagement with the Kenya Kwanza government as a way of addressing national issues and national challenges."

“The same position was adopted by the ODM parliamentary group. It is only fair for us to be guided by the positions taken or adopted by the organs of the party," he said adding that the talks will address skewed appointments in government.

“We must therefore as a matter of principal support any attempt to redress that anomaly because all Kenyans pay taxes and deserve equal representation at every level of government, equity in representation of organs of state."

There have been indications that Kalonzo is quietly plotting to inherit the opposition support bases by appealing to the majority of Kenyans dissatisfied with the Kenya Kwanza administration.

As a way of appeasing Kenyans, Kalonzo has gone flat out to laud Generation Zoomers (Gen Zs) for stepping out to put pressure on the government to address challenges beleaguering Kenyans.

On Sunday, Kalonzo criticised President Ruto’s tough stances against protesters saying calling Kenyans anarchists was unconstitutional.

 “There are no anarchists. They are absolutely constitutional. We must all uphold the rule of law. How can you say that a young lady, a young man, armed with a bottle of water and a phone is an anarchist?’’ he said.

“I don't know how to thank Gen Zs. They have really liberated this country forever.’’

Even as Kalonzo’s camp digs in, there are signals that both camps of the opposition are keen not to upset the Gen Zs with the hope of reaping big ahead of the 2027 polls.

Kalonzo, who has supported Raila in the 2013, 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, is keen on running in 2027 against President Ruto.

Already, what started as dissent against the government’s unpopular taxes is morphing into a political showdown between the country’s big guns ahead of the 2027 polls.

It was largely expected that Ruto’s decision to withdraw the impugned Finance Bill, 2024 on June 26 would appease the masses and return the country to normalcy.

However, this was not to be; the protests continued relentlessly.

The President further ceded ground and implemented austerity measures by slashing government expenditure, and on July 11, fired his entire Cabinet save for Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi.

The move appeared to have cooled down temperatures as the young people kept off the streets on Thursday, July 18 despite days of readying for what Gen Z had dubbed ‘total shutdown’.

The President did what was largely unexpected by naming six of his former CSs among 11 nominees as part of the first batch of his new-look Cabinet.

Ruto, on Sunday, said “Enough is enough” and vowed to ‘crush’ the protests.

“Going forward, we will protect the nation; we will protect life, we will protect property, we will stop the looters, we will stop the killers, we will stop anarchy because Kenya is a democracy and we want a peaceful stable nation,” he said in Bomet.

The President said whatever issues the country currently faces should be resolved democratically, a step he said he already took, and allowed the Gen Z to ventilate and air their grievances openly.