On Wednesday, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party announced Suna East MP Junet Mohammed as the new Minority Leader in the National Assembly.
Junet succeeds Ugunja MP James Opiyo Wandayi, who was recently nominated by President William Ruto for the position of Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary.
On the other hand, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo was nominated by the ODM party to be the new Minority Whip in the National Assembly.
Millie takes on the new post from Junet Mohamed.
Additionally, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi was assigned to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee which was previously held by Treasury Cabinet Secretary nominee John Mbadi.
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This comes at a time when ODM leader Raila Odinga has faced criticism for appearing to support Ruto’s government in the face of a youth-led uprising calling for his resignation.
Raila is thought to have struck an agreement that saw four members of his ODM party secure critical positions, including Finance Minister, in Ruto’s reconfigured Cabinet.
The action has caused a schism in the opposition Azimio alliance, which supported Mr Odinga’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in the 2022 elections.
Three main political parties in the coalition, including former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement, have rejected the accord, calling it a betrayal of the Gen Z movement that has sparked widespread rallies across the country in the last month.
However, Odinga has rejected the existence of a formal power-sharing agreement between his party and the President’s ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition, arguing that the four ODM members consented to serve in the Cabinet in their individual capacities.
In a statement issued by his campaign secretariat on Thursday, Raila sought to clarify that his party was still pushing for a conditional national dialogue to address some of the concerns raised by the Gen Z movement.
