Raila Odinga's Azimio la Umoja, also known as One Kenya, is facing its greatest challenge yet against President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza Alliance in Parliament.
A vote on the Finance Bill 2023 on Wednesday showed that Azimio, most probably, stands no chance in its bid to shoot down government bills in parliament as they were overwhelmingly outvoted.
Debate on the Bill resumes on Tuesday, with a vote that could see it pass in the course of the week. Azimio is mobilizing its Members of Parliament ahead of this showdown and has bared its fangs to its rebels as it plans to mount a resistance against the Bill.
Raila's Orange Democratic Movement has already initiated disciplinary action against four of its members who supported the Bill and 24 others who were absent during voting, a move that should rally attendance during next week's sittings.
On Thursday, ODM Secretary-General and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna published a list of the MPs the party would be seeking to punish for defying ODM's position on the Finance Bill, with the party's Vice-Chairperson and Taita Taveta Senator Mwashushe Mwaruma issuing show-cause letters to the lawmakers.
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In the wake of the backlash that accompanied their absence, many of the absentees have vowed to be part of next week's voting.
During the last vote at the Bill's second reading, 176 Members of Parliament voted in its favour, with 81 opposing it. The overwhelming endorsement implies that the controversial Bill is bound to pass even with the Azimio Members of Parliament who skipped the vote attending the next one, given that those who supported it are more than half of the total 349 MPs.
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Azimio's fortunes in Parliament are further complicated by a rebellion by some Jubilee MPs, who have defected from Azimio to Kenya Kwanza. Some of the MPs, like Adan Keynan (Eldas) and Sabina Chege (nominated), voted in favor of the Bill. During Thursday's afternoon sitting at the Senate, Sifuna pointed out the frustration of Jubilee MPs, a situation that also obtains in both Houses.
"We are having serious challenges whipping members of Jubilee in this particular House. We, as a coalition, have never disowned anyone. They have decided they don't want to associate with us. We are unable to whip these members," the Senate deputy minority whip stated.
Azimio thus finds itself lacking the numbers to mount a substantial resistance. Tactics such as filibustering, proposing multiple amendments, and subjecting every clause to a division vote could only work to delay the inevitable.
Raila's coalition is, seemingly, resigned to the near impossibility of mounting a successful opposition and has lined up measures it would pursue if MPs eventually endorsed it. The coalition's principals are expected to announce their next course of action tomorrow, as indicated during a Wednesday press briefing.
"In the event that they force this down your throat, don't give up, don't surrender. Join us in the next course of action that we will announce soon," said former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who announced that Azimio would be publishing an alternative budget.
"We are reminding Kenyans that they are not helpless. The Constitution gives you sovereignty. Let us wait, and if the voices of the people are not heard, then the people must exercise their sovereignty," Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua said.
Raila recently announced that they were ready to take the fight to the courts or the streets, through demonstrations, as the opposition seeks to capitalize on public discontent over the Finance Bill and the prevailing high cost of living.
"They will pass the Finance Bill, and that will be the trumpet (that will signal) the start (of protests)," the former prime minister said at the Toi Market in Kibra on Thursday.
ODM chairperson John Mbadi hinted at the court action yesterday, which Minority Whip Junet Mohamed had talked about in Parliament on Thursday.
"The Majority side had no justification in pushing for a vote on a Finance Bill in the rushed manner in which they did. It is anticipated in law that debate on the Bill and indeed any voting would have succeeded the Budget Highlights by the CS," Mbadi said at a briefing. By Brian Otieno, The Standard
