Rarieda MP Otiende Omollo \/ HANDOUT<\/p>\n
Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo has denied claims that he has boycotted a crucial Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) meeting.<\/p>\n
The legislator said that he is not a member of the party\u2019s Central Committee
\nand therefore cannot be accused of skipping its sessions.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Monday, Amollo said the record
\nneeded to be set straight amid growing speculation about internal disagreements
\nand attendance patterns within ODM\u2019s top organs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay it be known that as Deputy Chair of ODM, I
\nhave not boycotted any meeting. I\u2019m not a member of the Central Committee,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Amollo, a senior legal and political figure within the party, emphasised
\nthat he remains actively engaged in ODM affairs within the scope of his formal
\nresponsibilities.<\/p>\n
The clarification is aimed at quelling rumours
\nof disaffection within ODM\u2019s upper ranks at a time when the opposition
\ncoalition is recalibrating its strategy and messaging on national politics and
\nsuccession questions.<\/p>\n
The Rarieda MP has recently been vocal as he warned that Kenya\u2019s broad-based government, though positive for national unity, is inadvertently weakening parliamentary oversight.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Spice FM on October 23, 2025, Otiende said the arrangement, designed to promote inclusivity and political stability, has reduced scrutiny of government bills and policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you that while the broad-based government is a good thing for this country, one of the unintended effects it has had on Parliament is to reduce the level of scrutiny and opposition to bills that may not be good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The legislator noted that lawmakers who question certain government proposals are often accused of opposing the broad-based arrangement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of us who question this are then said to be opposed to the broad-based government. I am one, for example, because I raise questions during debate, and some people have concluded that I am among those opposed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Otiende clarified that he supports the unity government but maintains that MPs must retain their constitutional role of oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI support the broad-based government, but that 10-point framework agreement does not say anywhere that we must support legislation and proposals even if they are not correct,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Otiende’s remarks came amid growing debate on the implications of the broad-based government model formed to bridge political divisions after the 2022 elections.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the ODM<\/p>\n
\u00a0party’s key committee began holding talks to iron out differences that are threatening to break the party into pieces.<\/p>\n
Members of the CMC under the tutelage of party leader Oburu Oginga held a meeting at Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort in Kilifi County for the crucial talks.<\/p>\n
Oginga called for the meeting following days of squabbles and public spats involving senior party officials who have differed on the future of ODM following its founding leader, Raila Odinga\u2019s death in October last year.<\/p>\n
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir posted pictures of officials arriving at the meeting on Monday morning, saying he was there for \u2018a candid and forward-looking engagement on emerging political and national issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the Orange Democratic Movement, we remain committed to internal consultation, unity of purpose, and principled leadership as we listen to our members and the Kenyan people while shaping the Party\u2019s direction in the period ahead,\u201d Nassir said.<\/p>\n
The party has expressed sharp differences, mainly pitting Secretary General Edwin Sifuna against chairperson Gladys Wanga and Minority Leader Junet Mohamed, with the country witnessing a public spat between the two camps.<\/p>\n
ODM<\/p>\n
\u00a0announced that it will immediately embark on structured preparations aimed at forming the next government in 2027.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued after a meeting of its Central Committee, the party noted that with the General Election scheduled for next year, it could not afford to delay its preparations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Committee directed that structured work commence immediately towards positioning ODM not only to contest next year\u2019s general elections, but to form the next government, including policy development, organisational readiness, coalition building, and candidate preparedness,\u201d the party said.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the committee resolved to initiate structured negotiations with other political formations as part of its coalition-building efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee meeting expressed the intention to initiate structured negotiations with different political formations, beginning with United Democratic Alliance,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo this end, we have mandated the Party Leader to commence this process. Concurrently, consultations with party members will proceed, culminating in the National Delegates Convention,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rarieda MP Otiende Omollo \/ HANDOUT Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo has denied claims that he has boycotted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[12281,80,8562,2918,2342,12282,98,100,101,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-19514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-central-committee","9":"tag-kenya","10":"tag-oburu-oginga","11":"tag-odm-party","12":"tag-odm-wrangles","13":"tag-political-formations","14":"tag-star-news","15":"tag-star-news-kenya","16":"tag-the-star","17":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}