Garissa Township Member of Parliament Aden Duale now says he is the defacto (unofficial) leader of the opposition in Kenya after ODM leader Riala Odinga technically joined government.
Speaking during an interview with NTV on Tuesday, December 7, the former majority leader in the National Assembly said he has assumed the roles of the opposition leader after Raila, who was considered the opposition leader, shook hands with his rival President Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2018.
“We have adopted what is called the status of a ranking member. Now I am more like the leader of the opposition and the leader of the minority following the handshake,” Duale said.
The legislator who is allied to Tanga Tanga political wing of Jubilee party, thatis synonymous with Deputy President William Ruto said apart from killing the once most vibrant opposition which used to put the government on toes, the handshake further set back the roadmap that Jubilee had.
“When the handshake came in, the whole issue turned into more of a constitutional moment and we lost the manifesto we had,” he said.
In March 2018, Raila and President Uhuru put their political rivalry that had lasted for decades aside and pledged to work as a team for what they termed as a way to end winner-takes-it all political competition.
According to analysts, this stripped off powers of the opposition party as it could no longer execute its watchdog mandate with Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala accusing former Prime Minister Raila Odinga of solely killing the opposition.
He said prior to the handshake, Raila used to put the government on toes where he could unearth corruption scandals as witnessed in the National Youth Service (NYS) something that has been buried since March 2018.
“The ODM party drastically shifted from being the voice of the oppressed and began wining and dining with the oppressor. ODM is solely responsible for the death of the opposition in this country,” Malala said.
