Youths in Baringo County have warned Raila Odinga against joining hands with President William Ruto.
In a video shared by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, the group of youths asked Sifuna to ask Raila not to make a pact with Ruto.
The group of youths spoke ahead of the looming pact between Raila and Ruto to form a political formation ahead of the 2027 polls.
While posing for pictures with Sifuna, the youths said, “Tell Raila not to join Ruto.” Sifuna was among the leaders who attended the burial of Baringo Senator William Cheptumo at Arap Cheptumo in Bartabwa in Baringo County on Saturday.
The Nairobi Senator paused for a moment and asked the youths to repeat their message, to which they unanimously said, “We don’t want him to join Ruto.”
President Ruto was among the leaders present at the burial. According to reporting from Nation, Ruto is prepared to offer up to 50 per cent of the Cabinet and more of the government to the former Prime Minister to woo his support.
Kenya Gosssip learnt that the midweek meeting between Ruto and Raila at State House Mombasa ironed out the majority of the deal and could be announced as early as next.
According to our sources, the proposed deal was in the presence of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah, and his Minority counterpart Junet Mohamed, among other leaders.
Raila has spent the better part of two days in consultative meetings in his backyard of Western and Nyanza and has promised a big announcement.
He embarked on a series of town hall meetings to convince his support base that working with and supporting Ruto’s government was in the best interest of the nation at the moment.
The two leaders have been in sync since their return from the failed African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson bid, seemingly reading from the same script. This is despite some in ODM indicating Raila could be on the ticket for 2027.
Ruto has said, “We close ranks and focus on what we can do for Kenya… We need all hands on deck to be able to achieve this mission and vision.”
In response, Raila has affirmed his readiness to contribute, mentioning, “We are available to help the continent of Africa, but more importantly, we are also available for Kenya.”
All indications are that Raila is willing to work with Ruto, a coalition that could grant him power akin to what he had during the coalition government of 2008.
Already, Raila has several Cabinet Secretaries in Ruto’s government, including Opiyo Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum), John Mbadi (National Treasury and Economic Planning), Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy), Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MMSMEs),and Beatrice Askul Moe (East African Community), all former top ODM leaders.
