“We Will Set Up a Shadow Cabinet” – Senator Okiya Omatatah Promises Kenyans On New Plan
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has promised to form a shadow cabinet following the nomination of four Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) members to President William Ruto’s cabinet, implying a perceived alliance between the opposition and the government.
The four, including ODM Chair and Nominated MP John Mbadi (Treasury), Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), former Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy), and former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs Development), were nominated as part of President Ruto’s broad-based government approach.
Omtatah warned of dire consequences if Parliament approved the four members of Ruto’s government, claiming that the opposition would be ineffective in holding the government accountable.
Thus, he promised to form a shadow cabinet that would carry out the opposition’s work by effectively scrutinizing the government’s policies and actions.
There shall be no vacuum in the opposition, I am going to form a shadow cabinet that is going to keep this government in check.
— Okiya Omtatah Okoiti (@OkiyaOmtatah) July 27, 2024
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“If that cabinet is established, some of us will be constrained to set up a shadow cabinet because we shall no longer have a presidential system where you have majority and minority sides checking the executive, we shall have a defacto parliamentary system where power emanates from the House,” said Omtatah.
“Therefore some of us must set up a shadow cabinet that can effectively check the excesses of this government, this mockery that has been vested upon us whose character and purpose we don’t know.”
The senator also stated that the ruling government was not addressing the concerns raised by Generation Zs and was instead fueling the fire by rewarding the opposition with government positions.
“This is a self-serving government that does not address the concerns the Gen Z has been raising or has been driving them to the streets.”
Omtatah criticized President Ruto’s decision to nominate the four to his cabinet on Wednesday, claiming that it is illegal and does not benefit Kenyans.
He explained that the president broke the rules of the country’s multiparty democratic system by enticing opposition members to join the government.
“Under this principle of Kenya being a multiparty democracy, it is not possible for an individual MP or political party to just cross the floor after an election,” remarked the senator.
“The provision also does not give the President the power to set up a broad-based government.”
Parliament will begin vetting the CS nominees on Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4, 2024.
“We Will Set Up a Shadow Cabinet” – Senator Okiya Omatatah Promises Kenyans On New Plan
