The Jubilee Party has dismissed claims by ODM leader Raila Odinga that former President Uhuru had a hand in brokering a political deal between Raila and President William Ruto.
Speaking on citizen Radio morning interview on Monday, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni condemned the remarks, accusing Raila of attempting to drag both Uhuru and Jubilee into a political arrangement they had nothing to do with.
Kioni said it was wrong for Odinga to rope the party into what appeared to be ODM’s internal decisions, especially amid growing discontent with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“There’s no truth to those claims. And even if there was, we were not involved. This was entirely their call,” Kioni stated.
He added that if Raila had made a choice to engage the current regime, then he should own it and not try to shift the responsibility onto others.
“Don’t blame Jubilee or Uhuru Kenyatta. If ODM saw value in cooperating with the government, let them say so honestly,” he said.
His remarks came in response to Odinga’s Sunday interview on NTV, where the opposition leader claimed that Uhuru, who was in the U.S. during last year’s anti-Finance Bill protests, had encouraged him to consider talks with Ruto to calm the rising tension in the country.
“In the heat of the protests, Uhuru called me from the U.S. He said, ‘I know you don’t want to talk to Ruto, but for the sake of the country, you should consider it,’” Raila said during the interview.
He added that President Ruto eventually reached out to him directly, and they agreed to meet.
Odinga went on to say that despite opposition from some Azimio figures, ODM saw the value in seconding experts to the government to help deal with Kenya’s mounting economic and governance issues.
Kioni, however, dismissed that explanation, insisting that Jubilee was never consulted and played no part in the decision.
“We won’t let anyone rewrite the story. If you chose to support the same system you were opposing, be honest about it,” he said.
