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Dan Maanzo: Ruto would have fled without ODM support
24th July, 2025 11:20 PM
Makueni County Senator Dan Maanzo has launched a scathing attack on President William Ruto’s administration, accusing it of mismanaging national priorities and losing touch with the Kenyan people.
Speaking on the night of Thursday, July 24, 2025, during an interview with a local TV station, Maanzo credited the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party with preventing a complete government collapse.
“The priorities of the current government are upside down, and we thank ODM for stabilising the government of Ruto. If it was not for ODM, today Ruto would probably have run away from this country, and we would have been left in a constitutional crisis,” Maanzo said.
ODM-UDA deal
The Wiper party legislator’s comments appear to point to ODM’s role in tempering public unrest and helping prevent further national instability, especially following widespread anti-government protests earlier this year, by entering a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
According to Maanzo, ODM’s involvement offered the administration a lifeline and a chance to reset its leadership tone—an opportunity he believes Ruto has squandered.
Maanzo further slammed the Kenya Kwanza government for what he described as rampant corruption, stating that this is the core issue driving public dissatisfaction.
Ruto’s attack on opposition
Responding to claims from Ruto and his allies that the opposition is engaged in conmanship, Maanzo turned the accusation back at the president himself.
“It is not conmanship. He has misunderstood Kenyans. He has lost touch with the country and with Kenyans—and probably, he is the one practicing conmanship,” Maanzo asserted.
He went further, questioning the president’s political partnership with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“What did he do with Gachagua? Isn’t that ‘wash wash’ and conmanship?” he posed, referencing slang often used to describe fraudulent dealings.
Maanzo’s remarks come just days after President Ruto challenged his critics to stop chanting “Ruto must go” and instead present concrete policy proposals.
Speaking on multiple platforms over the past week, including at the commissioning of the rehabilitated Bridge Savannah-Stage 17-Masimba Road in Nairobi and at the Nairobi Securities Exchange during the bell-ringing ceremony for the Linzi asset-backed security, the president accused the opposition of offering nothing but slogans.
“I listened to another group of friends, Kenyans, brothers and sisters, who say Ruto must go. For sure, just like those who were there before me, I will go. But respectfully, sirs and madams, let me ask you, what are your reasons for this call?” Ruto questioned.
Adding;
“What I hear is one chant: Ruto must go. That is not enough. If your plan does better than mine on jobs, on the economy, on healthcare, and on education, you should be bold enough to tell us.”
