The whole of last week, top ODM party politicians hit the headlines over their clashing opinion on the BBI Bill. The outfit has played a major role in the BBI process, from March 2018, when it was initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
However, with senior party officials pulling opposite directions on the final document before the National Assembly, there are concerns whether the BBI hit its Waterloo or if the public spat between senior ODM party officials is by design, to have the orange party continue dominating the BBI conversation.
Whereas the party’s Minority Leader in the Senate James Orengo says the document before Parliament will entrench inequality and make other regions feel under-represented, Minority Whip Junet Mohammed and his Minority Leader counterpart insist the report should be passed just as it is.
On March 25th, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka of Wiper, Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) and Gideon Moi unveiled the One Kenya Alliance and vowed to take over the BBI cause, championing it around the country.
“Today, we mark the beginning of a journey with a clear purpose to unite this country through a transformative agenda that seeks to create equal opportunities for all Kenyans. This alliance is a breath of fresh air from the toxic and divisive politics this country has witnessed in the recent past,” Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula said on March 25th, in reference to NASA.
With claims of senior Harambee House officials bankrolling the One Kenya Alliance, a section of ODM leadership felt the party’s leader had done the donkey work and it was a huge betrayal, to hand over the process to the One Kenya Alliance the last minute.
Is the chaos currently being witnessed in ODM part of an elaborate strategy to edge out One Kenya Alliance and their affiliates, out of the BBI conversation? The referendum and BBI conversation are currently dominated by the orange party, despite the initiative being the national agenda.
Other outfits like KANU, ANC Party, Ford-Kenya, and Wiper Movement are tactfully edged out of the BBI dialogue since it is a ‘war’ in ODM.
