CS Murkomen Offers To Facilitate Truce Between President Ruto, Raila

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen now says he can arrange for a meeting between President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga for the purposes of arriving at a truce to resolve the present impasse over the proposed Finance Bill, 2023, if both parties are willing.

Murkomen, who spoke at the Kabunde airstrip in Homa Bay County on Monday, opined that President Ruto and Mr. Odinga have worked together in the past, hence there should be no reason as to why they cannot rekindle that camaraderie.

The CS stated that that the Head of State learnt the political ropes from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya chief, hence his rise to the country’s top seat is also a testament to the opposition leader’s political prowess, thus they should consult each other on a wide array of issues touching on national development.

“I do not see the reason why Baba na President Ruto should not be consulting more, kwa sababu William Ruto alikuwa kwa academy ya Raila Odinga. The dream of every teacher is to have his student doing better than himself,” he said.

“If you see William Ruto standing tall, he’s standing on the shoulders of a giant called Raila Odinga. There is no way as a country we can succeed to build our nation if we’re fighting each other. Hiyo kitu yenye Baba anataka kumwambia Ruto, wakubaliane wakutane mahali, mimi naweza panga, alafu tuongee.”

CS Murkomen further drummed up support for the controversial Finance Bill, 2023, urging the Azimio leadership to also throw their weight behind it.

He argued that most proposals contained in the Bill, especially the housing levy, was in both Mr. Odinga AND President Ruto’s campaign manifestos, hence opposing it now presumably only smells malice.

“Mimi nilikuwa mtu wa mkono wa Baba (Mr. Odinga), there is no reason why as leaders we should not be able to work together. Let me say this, ukiona ile mapendekezo mingi iko kwa Finance Bill, kwanza hiyo ya housing, hiyo pendekezo I think ni William Ruto alichukua kutoka kwa Baba,” he said.

“The manifesto ya ODM na UDA kwa mambo ya housing ni the same, ata percentage ni the same… ni ile tu sasa mmoja aliingia, mwingine ataingia baadaye.”