The Orange Democratic Party (ODM) has outlined ten conditions for the political union between President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
While reading the details of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna stated that the Ruto’s government must implement the National Dialogue Committe (NADCO) Report and protect devolution, among other clauses in the document.
The MoU is titled Memorandum of Understanding to resolve the social, economic and political challenges facing Kenya 2025.
According to the agreement the dialogue and collaboration between the two leaders shall achieve its objectives by holding regular consultations on pressing issues of interest to the people of Kenya.
It will also be achieved through exchanging expertise and information on the best practices in governance and of the Republic of Kenya.
Additionally, the two leaders shall deploy their political infrastructure to examine the above matters and only and any other issues requiring their attention and shall engage necessary expertise that will assist them in addressing these the matters arising.
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10-Point Conditions in Ruto-Raila Deal
Realizing that Kenya has gone through a long period of political crisis and conflict that has hampered the nation’s potential for development and improving the livelihoods of our people.
Noting that such crisis has often resulted into demonstrations by our people demanding their rights with the state often resulting to brutal suppression of such demonstrations that unfortunately lead to loss of life as well as property.
Acknowledging that the nation will not develop without reinforcing democratic governance and the rule of law, conscious that the decay in democratic governance is expressed through skewed allocation of resources, ethnic intolerance, and marginalization, corruption, and noting that devolution though intended to strengthen democratic governance and development at the grassroots is systematically undermined and starved of funds.
Now, therefore, his excellency president doctor William Samoei Ruto and the right honorable Raila Odinga EGH the to the in the 2023 and hereby make this resolution on the initiatives that must be undertaken to instill further confidence in the country.
While this memorandum does not define the formation of a political coalition between the respective political parties, its successful implementation will inform the basis of steps towards the establishment of a progressive and stable country.
Now, therefore, the two leaders commit and resolve to collaborate and cooperate with each other by conducting broad based consultations between themselves on the key issues identified below.
NADCO Report and Devolution
1: The two leaders commit and resolve to collaborate and cooperate with each other by the Priority issues in the NADCO process like the cost of living, youth unemployment, establishing a framework for the implementation of the two thirds gender rule have been the topics of discussion for far too long and now must be actualized.
2: Inclusivity in all spheres of public life. Kenya belongs to all persons regardless of their ethnicity, religion, generation, or geographic location. All Kenyans are equal, and all are entitled to an equitable budgetary resource allocation and opportunities in public appointments.
Further, though the constitution of Kenya is clear on the rights of minorities and the marginalized people in the country, not enough has been done almost fifteen years later to uphold these rights by fully implementing the provisions of the constitution.
3: Protecting and strengthening devolution. Devolution must continue to be protected from any possibility of claw back on devolved functions, and more effort must be put at devolving all funds allocated to a devolved function, increasing budgetary allocation to counties and ensuring the timely and predictable disbursement of devolved funds.
4: Protecting and protecting the livelihoods of young people. Urgent and massive investment must be made in all high potential sectors of the economy, including mining, blue economy, agriculture, and ICT to create sufficient employment opportunities that provide ways for young people to earn a decent living nationwide economic stimulus programs must therefore be initiated.
Young people must also be mainstreamed in all political spaces to bring their voices to the table and the in their participation to the center of all activities.
Protests and National Debts
5: Leadership and integrity. Kenyans are concerned by the expression of opulence accompanied by rude and arrogant conduct of public officers and the apparent impunity that has followed the same. It must be enforced that the the demeanor of public servants needs to reflect the dignity of their offices and the respect owed by them to the citizens of The Republic Of Kenya.
We must also urgently provide a legal and institutional framework for addressing conflict of interest among public servants.
6: The right to peaceful assembly and protest under article 37 and compensation of all pending claims of abuse and derogation of their rights. Derogation of the rights of to a peaceful assembly and process remains one of the most shameful realities of the excesses of the Kenya’s law and order responses since independence.
The effort to uphold this right must now involve not just the taking of responsibility by officers who break the law, but also by compensation of the victims of these derogations. An amnesty must be granted to all those who are charged for offenses based on the exercise of their right to peaceful assembly.
The National Police Service must update their methods and processes of dealing with demonstrations and assemblies when they are held and particularly when they have managed have to be managed or contained.
7: The national debt. The urgent audit must be conducted of how much has been borrowed in the past and how it has been used. Going forward, we must stop the ballooning of the national debt and ensure accountability for future borrowing.
Lastly, we must ensure that that borrowed money is used in all manners that grants an equitable benefit to all Kenyans in every region of all the countries since payments are made by all from taxes regardless of their locations.
Corruption and Wastages of Public Resources
8: The fight against corruption. Kenya needs to move from talk to action. We must move from the right, fight against corruption to winning the war against corruption.
We must enhance the capacity of institutions that enforce accountability and particularly the offices of the auditor general, the controller of budget, and the ethics and anti-corruption commission.
9: Stopping wastage of public resources and promoting government efficiency. A new ethos of public expenditure in both national and county governments must be inculcated in a manner that promotes austerity, justification, and effectiveness in the use of public resources.
10: Protecting and promoting the sovereignty of the people, the rule of law, and constitutionalism. The rule of law requires that government and its officers to obey court orders and only challenge the validity of judicial pronouncements through legal processes.
The spectra of abductions and extrajudicial killings do not bode well for the for democracy. Suppression of constitutional freedoms, including speech, expression, assembly, and media must stop.
Furthermore, political parties being key pillars of democratic participation must be strengthened. The two leaders resolve to respect the identity and integrity of all political parties and to ensure respect and implementation of the provisions of the political party’s act.
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