Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo has accused Deputy President William Ruto of holding political grudges over comments she perceives targets her community.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) MP made the comments on Sunday at the tail end of Punchline show when she was asked what she thinks of DP Ruto’s ability to lead the country.
“I would say Ruto needs to work on certain issues. He holds grudges…He needs to stop talking about “hawa watu wa kung’oa reli,” said Odhiambo.
The Suba North MP said that Dr Ruto does not endear himself to her because of the alleged ethnic bias.
“When you are in politics, there is no rear view mirror. In the last election, I did say unpleasant things against Uhuru but now I saying nice things about him,” said Ms Odhiambo.
She used the opportunity to praise her ODM leader, Raila Odinga, saying he does not hold grudges and affirmed her support for his handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Gender equity
The MP also accused her male colleagues of stringing along female legislators on the two-thirds gender rule only to deny them their votes at crucial hour.
After failing to get MPs to pass the two-thirds law in Parliament, the Suba North MP said she now favours constitutional amendments that would entrench gender equity and a return of the parliamentary system.
“When we were in Naivasha over constitutional review, people were equating our meeting with the white smoke for choosing the next Pope. People thought we would disagree on all issues but we only had a stalemate on gender rule,” said Ms Odhiambo to reinforce her point that male legislators are still against gender equity.
But the MP blamed the gender bias on socialization, which she said places a low premium on women.
Sonko drama
And asked about her penchant for political drama, specifically on trading insults with Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, the ODM MP said she is not a “Michelle Obama.”
“When you go low, I go lower…think what you want of me, I don’t care,” said the Suba North MP, terming Sonko’s recent theatrics abroad as a distraction to the ills bedeviling Nairobi County.
“He is young and has a lot of energy. But I think he has disappointed a lot of people. I think he is distracting attention from some of the things happening in Nairobi,” said Odhiambo when asked about what she thinks of Sonko.