ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna has maintained that the party was not involved in the nomination of four of its members to President William Ruto’s cabinet.
The Four are ODM Deputy Party leaders and former governors Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Joho, who were nominated for the Cooperatives and MSMEs, and Mining and Blue Economy dockets respectively.
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi was nominated to the Energy Docket while John Mbadi was nominated to the National Treasury.
Speaking on Citizen TV, Sifuna said that individuals made the decisions on personal levels.
He added that the four should resign from the party before they proceed to vetting, as the law dictates.
“I expect that before they go for vetting I will receive resignation from their positions in the party. That is my expectation because the law is that they cannot go into cabinet as parties and members of political parties.
“Did we know that people were negotiating with Ruto, yes we knew. Was it something being done officially through the party structures, no. Did we endorse the decision by these four individuals to join government, no. It is not a decision of ODM,”the Nairobi senator said.
According to him, Raila would not have fronted men only for the positions.
“If ODM was asked, if Raila was asked to present names of people who are capable of turning around this country and address the issues that have been raised by Gen Z, the Raila Odinga that I know would not present four names all men. We have very strong sentiments in the party even during meetings, if you give three men to speak before a woman speaks you will be in trouble.
“There is no way Raila presents four names, two from one region in a party as diverse as ODM. I am telling you this is not a decision of Raila Odinga. It is a decision between this members and the president himself,” Sifuna further clarified.
