Omtatah spills details of past meeting with Raila on Ruto
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has expressed regret over ODM leader Raila Odinga’s decision to work with President William Ruto under the broad-based government arrangement, saying the move has not helped the country and goes against earlier caution shared by Raila himself.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Tuesday, August 6, 2025, the presidential hopeful revealed that he once had a private meeting with Raila, where the ODM leader warned him never to work with Ruto.
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“I once had an engagement with Baba at his place, and he told me that we should never work with Ruto,” Omtatah said.
He expressed regret that Raila later ignored his advice and joined hands with Ruto through the broad-based government, a move Omtatah said has failed to improve the economy or the lives of ordinary Kenyans.
“The broad-based government has not stabilised the economy. I regret Raila getting into the deal with Ruto,” he said.
According to Omtatah, Raila should have instead ended his political journey by standing firm and demanding accountability from the government.
“Baba should have come out and crowned his struggle for the many things he has done for this country. He could have said, since Ruto has become a loose cannon, he should resign, let the Speaker of the National Assembly take over for 90 days, and we organise a fresh election. We should have done that,” he added.
He further claimed that the so-called broad-based government has no legal basis.
“The broad-based government is not found in the constitution,” Omtatah insisted.
Broad-based government
In March 2025, President Ruto’s ruling party, UDA and the opposition ODM signed a deal to work together under a “broad-based government.” The agreement was intended to promote national unity and reduce political tensions by encouraging cooperation between the two parties. It was not a formal coalition or power-sharing agreement, but rather a mutual understanding to consult on key government matters.
At first, the move sparked hope among some Kenyans who believed it could bring stability and end the endless political fights. But months later, many feel let down, saying the deal has failed to produce real results.
Critics argue that ODM has gone quiet, abandoning its role as the opposition and giving Ruto’s government a free pass. The impression among many is that Kenya now lacks a serious opposition voice, with ODM leaders appearing too close to the president.
Even within ODM, cracks are showing. Some party members believe the deal has done more harm than good, weakening the party’s credibility and image.
Nairobi Senator and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has been among the loudest voices against the agreement. In a TV interview on July 22, 2025, he said the deal is dead and admitted that he had warned against signing it.
“I have already declared this MOU dead. I am on record having advised the party against doing this MOU with UDA, and we still went ahead and entered that MOU, but you see, the beauty is that you are proven right every day,” Sifuna said.
He accused President Ruto’s side of using the agreement as a public relations tool rather than honouring its promises.
“The problem with doing a formal MOU with UDA is that it didn’t matter what the MOU said. The people from UDA, the government, and William Ruto are not interested in the details of the MOU. They wanted a document that they could then go and run a PR campaign around and say ‘Tumeungana’, ‘We are together’. That is not what this document says,” he explained.
Sifuna also revealed that he refused to join a new team formed to review how the agreement is being implemented.
“I’m not a mortician. There’s no point in me going through a document I’ve already declared dead,” he said.
He noted that the deal was supposed to protect lives and maintain a stable democratic environment up to the 2027 elections.
“Ruto is getting his end of the bargain because the democratic state is getting sustained at least until 2027, but our people are not getting there. They are still being killed,” he stated.
