There are fears among organizers of the conference that the escalating differences between President William Ruto and Raila Odinga could lead to the Presidents’ top allies skipping the Wednesday event when Mr Odinga is expected to deliver his address. A similar scenario was witnessed during the (7th) devolution conference in Makueni County when some of the governors allied to then-Deputy President William Ruto gave the event a wide berth
The political rivalry between Kenya Kwanza-allied delegates and those of Azimio is expected to play out during the 8th Devolution Conference in Eldoret which kicked off yesterday; this is after Azimio leader Raila Odinga confirmed that he will attend. Mr Odinga is expected to deliver his keynote address on devolution on day two (Wednesday).
There are fears among organizers of the conference that the escalating differences between President William Ruto and Raila Odinga could lead to the Presidents’ top allies skipping the Wednesday event when Mr Odinga is expected to deliver his address. A similar scenario was witnessed during the (7th) devolution conference in Makueni County when some of the governors allied to then-Deputy President William Ruto gave the event a wide berth, the intention was to send a warning signal to then-President Uhuru Kenyatta, the event was graced by Raila Odinga.
Organizers believed that Raila Odinga could use the opportunity to take President Ruto and his administration head-on concerning matters of devolution and the high cost of living. According to sources, the Kenya Kwanza side believes that Raila’s speech will be geared at attacking the president. Sources told The Weekly Vision that the Azimio side is ready to give their party leader a rousing welcome at the conference to prove that he still enjoys overwhelming support among the delegates.
Raila Odinga has a habit of using such an opportunity to push his political agenda, and chances are high that he may use the opportunity to demonstrate how the high cost of living has affected devolution and the running of county governments.
Kenya Kwanza-allied delegates, however, may not take it lying down; they will not want to see Raila Odinga deconstructing their boss in public. Plans had been initiated by Kenya’s Kwanza leader to deny Mr Odinga an opportunity to address the delegates at the conference but intelligence reports revealed that it could create unnecessary political tensions since Azimio controls more than half of the delegates.
The majority of delegates allied to Azimio had earlier threatened to boycott the conference if Raila was not invited and accorded the respect that he deserved considering that he is one of the champions of devolution.
Azimio allied governors are expected to attend the event on Wednesday in solidarity with the party leader. During the last general elections, UDA won 20 gubernatorial seats while ODM won 13, Wiper has 3 governors, UDM (2), Amani (1), Jubilee (1), and DAP-K (1) among other parties.
