{"id":12166,"date":"2020-08-02T16:43:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T16:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=12166"},"modified":"2020-08-02T16:43:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T16:43:06","slug":"railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","title":{"rendered":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0Jacob Ng’etich\u00a0<\/strong>
\nAfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s absence at the helm of his Orange party.<\/p>\n

In his absence, ODM appears bereft of firm leadership, with fissures of rebellion widening by the day, key leader missing in action and rivals taking it on with reckless abandon.\u00a0On Tuesday, while taking a vote on the controversial county revenue-sharing formula, ODM senators fractured their usually solid vote, effectively aiding in defeating President Uhuru Kenyatta\u2019s formula.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader James Orengo blamed President Kenyatta\u2019s inaccessibility for the loss.\u00a0From the suspect claim by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka that he has a secret pact with Raila, Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang\u2019ata\u2019s threat on Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and a section of Coast MPs\u2019 threat to quit, ODM\u2019s rebuttals have lacked the full weight of the party machinery.<\/p>\n

In all cases, the burden has fallen on party secretary general Edwin Sifuna to rebut, with little voice coming from the two deputy party leaders Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Joho.<\/p>\n

Gone quiet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Junet Mohamed, the self-declared Raila \u2018cow\u2019, has also gone quiet, opting to follow the events from a distance.\u00a0\u201cODM is between a rock and a hard place. It is a party nominally led by an aging and absentee leader but depends more on the whims and benevolence of President Kenyatta…and has cut all relationships and dealings with all its regional allies. Such a party doesn\u2019t face a great future,\u201d lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi told the africa-press yesterday.<\/p>\n

There is no love lost between Ahmednasir and the Orange party, given his role in two presidential election disputes of 2013 and 2017. He claimed the party will not recover after the Senate debate: \u201cIt will begin whittling down. We will see some of its politicians charting new courses for themselves and the Coastal region has started the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raila is recuperating from a surgery in Coast and has been advised by both doctor and family to take it slow. He has avoided media interviews and taking part in national debates, occasionally weighing in when it matters most, and leaving his troops to find their own bearing.\u00a0When he was away in Dubai for the surgery, Joho and Junet chartered a flight to go see him and obtain guidance.<\/p>\n

Prior and after the Dubai visit, Joho has maintained studious silence even in the face of a rebellion in his backyard.\u00a0Led by Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, the lawmakers have vowed to lead a massive exit from the party in the next General Election.<\/p>\n

Baya told the africa-press that \u201cenough is enough\u201d and it was time to stop taking people from the Coast for granted. \u201cHad we had our party, we would be on the table bargaining for the interests of our people. Raila has shown that he does not have any interests with the Coast region\u2019s residents and we have decided to have our own political vehicle for the sake of the future of our people,\u201d said Baya.<\/p>\n

Severed ties<\/strong><\/p>\n

Baya\u2019s group calling itself\u00a0Vuguvugu La Mageuzi Pwani\u00a0comprises MPs Michael Kingi (Magarini), Andrew Mwadime (Mwatate),\u00a0Aisha Jumwa (Malindi),\u00a0 Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga),\u00a0Benjamin Taya (Kinango),\u00a0Mohammed Ali (Nyali),\u00a0Sharif Ali (Lamu East), Jones Mlolwa (Voi) and\u00a0Paul Kahindi (Kaloleni).\u00a0Granted, a good number of them had long severed their relationship with ODM, and none is a senator.<\/p>\n

Still their grumbling did not attract a whiff of attention from ODM bigwigs.\u00a0\u201cWe will keep engaging the people of the Coast directly while seeking to fulfill all promises made to them over the years, without any regard to political brokers who want to build fiefdoms for onward sale to the bottomless pit of corruption,\u201d Sifuna said.<\/p>\n

The ODM official argued that the Coastal counties enjoy semi-autonomy in revenue and expenditure, greater say in tourist earnings, Port use and land rights blueprints, thanks to Raila\u2019s firm stand on devolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaila\u2019s love for the people of the Coast, and their love right back, is the worst-kept secret in this land. These Tangatanga MPs must be reminded that were it not for Raila and the ODM Party, there wouldn\u2019t even be county revenue to fight over in the first place,\u201d Sifuna said.<\/p>\n

But it is at the Senate where ODM\u2019s soft underbelly was much exposed, with MPs from Raila\u2019s home turf being the only ones who supported the government position on the revenue, in line with his wishes.<\/p>\n

Many more rebelled and took independent positions.\u00a0Political analyst\u00a0Javas Bigambo says the Orange party has not lost its mojo yet. He says it is the weight of the interests Raila is juggling that may be the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaila has a lot of interests to balance if he still needs to maintain regions he once enjoyed support from. He has a lot of housekeeping to do. If he works with the assumption that\u00a0things are rosy, he risks losing the hold on the regions,\u201d Bigambo said.<\/p>\n

The same sentiments are shared by Baya who claimed that instead of addressing the issues, Raila\u2019s henchmen have either gone AWOL or left it to Sifuna to label them deserters. He claimed the habit of the party to brand critics as Tangatanga is a tired and lazy approach to politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame persons thought by labeling David Ochieng of MDG as Tangatanga during the by-election in Ugenya, the home constituency of Senator Orengo, he would lose. Instead, Ochieng convincingly clinched the seat.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s foolhardy to imagine the labeling thing will work at the Coast,\u201d Baya said.\u00a0But Sifuna told the MPs that there are many reasons that make Raila popular among the masses in the larger Coast region, which include his firm stand on Coastal land rights, devolution, education, employment rights and mainstreaming of minority issues.<\/p>\n

He said it is the party\u2019s strong stand on such issues that routinely invites the ire of opponents, led by people who believe a \u201ccontinually ignorant population is fodder for their land-grabbing tin god, whose affinity for enslavement of the ignorant is now the stuff of legend\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0Jacob Ng’etich\u00a0 AfricaPress-Kenya: The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s absence at the helm of his Orange party. In his absence, ODM appears bereft of firm leadership, with fissures of rebellion widening by the day, key […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,10],"tags":[564,495],"class_list":["post-12166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-parties","tag-odm","tag-opposition-leader-raila-odinga"],"yoast_head":"\nRaila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"717\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"417\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\"},\"wordCount\":1038,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ODM\",\"Opposition leader Raila Odinga\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\",\"name\":\"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg\",\"width\":717,\"height\":417},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\",\"name\":\"kenya\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless - kenya","description":"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless","og_description":"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","og_site_name":"kenya","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":717,"height":417,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless","datePublished":"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless"},"wordCount":1038,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg","keywords":["ODM","Opposition leader Raila Odinga"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","parties"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless","name":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless - kenya","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-02T16:43:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The political events of the past two weeks \u2014 including the revenue debate at the Senate \u2014 have exposed the vagaries of Opposition leader Raila Odinga\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/railas_political_ab5f25ab1e836b8.jpg","width":717,"height":417},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/parties\/railas-political-absence-leaves-odm-rudderless#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Raila\u2019s political absence leaves ODM rudderless"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/","name":"kenya","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}