Azimio is as dead as dodo. This is the only statement that the coalition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua can agree on without debate.
The last nail in the coffin of Azimio was hammered on Friday after ODM, one of the pillars of the opposition coalition, signed a memorandum of understanding with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Before ODM solemnized its marriage with UDA, Azimio Deputy Party Leader Martha Karua, Raila’s running mate in 2022 presidential polls formally withdrew from the coalition.
Jubilee party, another constituent of Azimio is split. Only three MPs have been clinging on the Opposition while 27 decided to work with the Kenya Kwanza coalition.
With ODM, Narc Kenya (now People’s Liberation Party) gone, while Jubilee is embroiled in squabbles, the only steady partner is Wiper. This has reduced Azimio to a shell.
Some of the remaining parties, according to some political experts, are inconsequential as they do not have representatives in the National Assembly and the Senate.
That Azimio is gone and gone forever is something that Kalonzo knows and is openly talking about.
In an interview with The Sunday Standard, Kalonzo blamed ODM for the death of the once vibrant coalition whose chairperson was former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Wiper has been very patient with the Azimio party. We have tried times and again to urge our partners to come back to their senses and maintain our vibrancy but they did not hear us,it is now dead thanks to ODM,” Kalonzo said.
He disclosed that the remaining leaders are consulting about the next step on whether to file a petition in court to demand that the ODM party relinquish the leadership of committees that are reserved for the Opposition.
“ODM can’t have their cake and eat it. The signing of the MOU means that they are working with the government and therefore it is illogical for them to continue holding the leadership of committees such as the Parliamentary Accounts Committee and Investment Committees. We shall also engage with them to demand that they cede those committees to us,” Kalonzo added.
Kalonzo had no kind words about Ruto-Raila cooperation as he described the pact as a mockery of democracy.
He expressed regrets that Raila abandoned the course of Kenyans who went to the streets to demand an audit of the 2022 general election and high cost of living but were killed by state agents.
He said as they deliberate on the way forward, he and like-minded leaders are also looking at the winding up clause of the Azimio before engaging with other Opposition leaders to craft a new opposition coalition.
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Other leaders who worked with Raila in the past said that with this move, he has just destroyed chances of working with him again in the future. According to Karua, the move by Raila was a betrayal to Kenyans.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni also wondered what magic Raila would do in Ruto’s administration to correct its wrongdoings.
He claimed President Ruto did not understand staying behind the desk to work for Kenyans because he only knew how to lie to Kenyans on car rooftops.
“The systems are not working. Social Health Authority (SHA) is a mess; the education funding model never worked, disadvantaging many students. How would Raila do things differently now that he has joined the government,” Kioni wondered.
He lamented that projects started by Uhuru had stalled while the Ruto administration had engaged in a borrowing spree and expressed concerns about the corruption in the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“If the duo hopes to hoodwink Kenyans in the 2027 general election, they will be surprised because it will not be about their political connections but whether they delivered to Kenyans, and there is no hope that they will deliver,” retorted Kioni.
