Editor's Review

The Siaya governor likened the officials' Cabinet nominations with a wedding without the marriage certificate.

Siaya governor James Orengo still holds onto his stance against some of the ODM party officials taking up Cabinet nominations offered by President William Ruto. 

Ruto poached four ranking luminaries from the Raila Odinga-led party giving them the powerful dockets in the government.

ODM national chairman John Mbadi was nominated to run the National Treasury, the two deputy party leaders, Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, were called up to run the Mining and Co-operatives Ministries respectively, and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, ODM's head of political affairs, getting the Energy docket.

Reacting to the developments, Orengo argued that the lack of structured engagements leading up to the nominations would make the quartet vulnerable. 

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President William Ruto tapped four individuals from the ODM party to form his new Cabinet.

The governor, who is also a lawyer, argued that Ruto would fire them at will given that he wields the ultimate power in his Cabinet.

"Right night now, the government in place right now is a Kenya Kwanza government. When Ruto was in Mombasa, he was talking about "Joho my minister, not Joho our minister. When we went to the grand coalition, Kibaki could not sack anyone without Raila's authority. It was written in the MoU. So today, if Ruto decides to sack them, they will be in problem. They have no document that is enforceable. It is like they did a wedding without a marriage certificate," said Orengo.

The four officials have since accepted their nominations and thanked the president for considering them.

Their names were presented to the National Assembly whose Committee on Appointment would be vetting them for approval.

The nominations divided ODM, with secretary general Edwin Sifuna saying they were not blessed by the party.

Later in his statement, Raila implied not having known a thing about the nominations, but sent the nominees a message of goodwill.

"I have taken note of President William Ruto's announcement yesterday regarding the reconstitution of the cabinet to include four members from ODM... We extend our best wishes to the nominees and trust that they will contribute positively to national development," he said.

Raila however clarified that the nominations did not connote ODM or Azimio joining the Kenya Kwanza government.

"Neither the ODM Party nor Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party has entered into any coalition agreement with President Ruto's UDA party," he said.