Africa-Press – Kenya. The Jubilee Party has distanced itself and former President Uhuru Kenyatta from claims made by ODM leader Raila Odinga that the former Head of State had brokered President William Ruto’s broad-based government.
Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, speaking during an interview on Citizen Radio on Monday morning, dismissed the remarks accusing Raila of attempting to portray both the party and Uhuru in a bad light.
He said it was unfair for the ODM leader to drag the party into the political heat surrounding the Kenya Kwanza administration’s performance.
“I am not saying there is any truth in those claims, but the bottom line is there is a serious problem in this country. We do not agree with the narrative that Uhuru initiated the idea of ODM experts joining the government. That was their own making. It is not right to cheapen such a significant issue,” Kioni stated.
Kioni added that if Odinga had always wanted to work with President Ruto, that was his choice and he should not try to shift the blame onto others.
“Do not involve Uhuru Kenyatta or the Jubilee Party in that decision. Do not blame us for joining the oppressor. That shows you are not even interested in finding solutions for the country,” he added.
He maintained that Jubilee was focused on strengthening itself as a party and contributing meaningfully to national governance, rather than being dragged into political blame games over government appointments and alignments.
In an interview with NTV on Sunday, July 20, Odinga revealed that Kenyatta, who was in the US at the time, had called him to encourage him to initiate talks with the Head of State in order to de-escalate the political tension the country was experiencing amid the anti-finance bill protests last year.
According to Odinga, the political tension in the country led the president to look for him and engage in discussions.
“In that charged environment, one of my colleagues, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, called me. He was in the US and suggested that although he knows I don’t want to talk to Ruto, in the interest of the country, I need to find a way of talking to him,” Odinga said.
“I did not even have to look for Ruto; he asked to come and see me and we agreed that we should talk,” Odinga said.
According to Odinga, despite him and his opposition colleagues in Azimio strongly opposing the idea of joining forces with the government, his ODM party deemed it appropriate to send ‘experts’ to the cabinet to resolve the country’s recurring economic and social issues.
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