NAIROBI — ODM leader Raila Odinga and People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua have publicly disagreed over the nature of the broad-based government arrangement with President William Ruto.
The two, who were running mates in the 2022 General Election, met on Tuesday at the funeral of Julius Laban in Tharaka Nithi County.
Raila defended ODM's cooperation with the ruling regime, insisting his party remains in the opposition.
"In the last election, I was with Martha, and we toured this entire region seeking votes. But you all know what happened afterward. However, that is in the past, and the country must move forward," he said.
Karua dismissed Raila's stance, urging him to formalise the arrangement through the Registrar of Political Parties if ODM is working with the government.
She warned that the current setup undermines multiparty democracy by weakening the opposition's ability to hold the government accountable.
"The framers of our Constitution found it fit to decree that Kenya is a multiparty democracy, that in Parliament there would be a minority side and a majority side. But when you merge the two, as is happening in broad-based governance, you deny the people the power to question government," she said.
She further challenged Raila to make the collaboration official through a registered coalition and allow independent opposition parties to play their role.
"I still request them to do what the law says--to enter into a political holy matrimony, which is a coalition registered under the Registrar of Political Parties--so that key parliamentary committees sit with parties that are absolutely not in government, ensuring healthy governance debates," she added.
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Raila reaffirmed ODM's opposition stance, emphasising that Parliament's role is to keep the government in check.
"Parliament itself is not just for the government and opposition, majority and minority, but all members are tasked with overseeing the Executive. We have not joined the Executive; we have stated that in Parliament, we are in the opposition. We are overseeing the Executive, and the whole Parliament is overseeing the Executive," he stated.
Karua, however, stood her ground, saying she remains with the people and will continue to challenge government policies.
"I firmly remain with the people. We must continue questioning the government, questioning its policies. We must continue saying no to abductions, no to executions, and no to grand theft of public funds when basic services are suffering," she declared.
The public disagreement between the two signals growing political tensions within the opposition as debates over the broad-based government framework intensify.
