Kaluma backs Raila’s dialogue push, demands ethnic and regional equity agenda
By Ascah Mwango, July 21, 2025Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has supported ODM Party leader Raila Odinga’s call for a national dialogue, saying it is the right step towards fixing Kenya’s long-standing problems.
However, Kaluma has insisted that the talks must address historical injustices, particularly ethnic and regional inequalities in public appointments and resource distribution.
In a post on his official X account on Sunday, July 21, 2025, Kaluma said he would only attend the proposed national dialogue if it would address what he called entrenched ethnic and regional biases.
“Baba @RailaOdinga: I agree civilised societies get solutions to the challenges they face through dialogue, not by fighting. I will only attend the proposed dialogue if it will address the entrenched ethnic and regional biases in public service appointments and national resource allocation in Kenya since independence,” he said.
Adding;
“We can’t be a Nation in which one community eats everything while others are told to keep peace and unite – how!”
Raila’s national conclave
Raila, while appearing on a local TV station on Saturday, July 20, 2025, defended his proposal for a national conclave, describing it as a long-term solution to the country’s political and social challenges.
He dismissed the popular “Ruto Must Go” chants heard during recent demonstrations, saying they do not provide real answers to the problems facing Kenyans.
“This is not about me or Ruto. It is about Kenyans. It is a people’s process,” Raila said during the interview.
He explained that the conclave will start from the grassroots, beginning at the polling station level where citizens will gather, raise their issues, and elect representatives. The process will move up to the ward and county levels, ending in a national forum with 1,880 delegates drawn from all 47 counties.
“I have proposed that each county should send 40 people, 20 be youth and 20 others, including elders, women, PWDs, farmers, businesspeople, and civil society,” Raila said.
He stressed that the conclave will be self-funded and citizen-led, warning that if frustrations are not addressed, the country could head into the 2027 elections with heightened tension.
“We do not want to head into the 2027 elections with even more bitterness. Hasira ni hasara,” he said.
Raila also proposed that the outcome of the national dialogue be subjected to a referendum. The key issues the conclave is expected to address include police brutality, corruption, youth unemployment, and gaps in the Constitution.