Kenyan Newspapers Review: Inside William Ruto, Raila Odinga's 2027 Pre-Election Alliance
On Friday, August 8, the Kenyan newspapers delved into emerging political coalitions ahead of the 2027 General Election.
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The dailies also highlighted the alleged looting of public funds through the government's digital payments platform, eCitizen.
Source: UGC
1. Daily Nation
President William Ruto and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga have given the clearest indication yet that their parties may form a political coalition ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Ruto of the ruling UDA party and the former prime minister have announced plans for a quarterly joint Kenya Kwanza-ODM Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting.
The meeting will assess the progress of the 10-point agenda that was signed between the two outfits.
To garner the support of the Orange party, which still has a sizable following in Nyanza, Western, and the Coast, the president is making every effort to quell opposition to the UDA-ODM political agreement.
According to insiders, to thwart the growing uprising against his political agreement with Raila, the president is eager to address complaints made by some senior ODM officials, such as calls to compensate protest victims, increase county funding, and stop police killings and kidnappings.
According to the publication, ODM informed Ruto that a 2027 pre-election partnership will be decided by the MoU's complete implementation.
Additionally, the party thinks that selling Ruto in their strongholds will only be feasible if the agreement is honoured.
On Wednesday, August 6, Ruto and Raila established a five-member technical team to supervise the execution of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report's recommendations and the 10-point agenda.
2. The Standard
President Ruto's reelection strategy may be hampered by former president Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to resume a leadership position in the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru's move could drastically change Kenya's political landscape and put ex-deputy president Rigathi Gachagua's ambition to be the Mount Kenya region kingpin in jeopardy.
Uhuru announced a 21-day notice on Wednesday for a Special National Delegates Conference (NDC) that will take place at the end of this month to evaluate and develop party policy.
Ruto's allies have on several occasions urged Uhuru to retire and even threatened to withhold his retirement benefits if he did not quit active politics.
There was speculation that Uhuru, who backed Raila in the 2022 presidential election, could be warming up to supporting Ruto's reelection campaign in 2027 after he visited Ruto at State House in Nairobi last week.
However, such assertions have been rejected by Jubilee Party officials.
Pauline Njoroge, the deputy organising secretary, reiterated the party's stance, insisting it remains in the opposition.
3. People Daily
Following the release of a report that revealed taxpayers lost a whopping KSh 9.4 billion through the eCitizen platform, National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo and officials from the Office of the Auditor General vehemently disagreed over whether the government lost revenue through the platform.
While claiming that no money has been lost since 2023, Kiptoo said that the auditors did not consult him to get his side of the story before releasing the special audit.
"We were limited in our capacity to correct the audit findings because the auditors failed to table this report to the National Treasury before tabling it before the committee, as required by law," he stated before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee.
The report covered the fiscal years 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024, and its goal was to evaluate the efficiency of the digital payments platform.
4. The Star
A family in Obama, Kayole, has been thrown into mourning following their death of their 16-year-old son.
The teenager reportedly fell from the balcony of the fifth floor of a residential building.
Police and witnesses said the victim was collecting laundry from a drying line when he accidentally fell.
He fell headfirst and was rushed to Mama Lucy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police have launched investigations.
5. Taifa Leo
Starting next year (2026), county governments will no longer be allowed to collect revenues based on a new policy set by the national government.
The government aims to establish a unified system that will serve as a national model for managing the collection of all county revenues, to strengthen transparency and efficiency in the devolved units.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi told the Senate's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that preparations to implement the system are in the final stages.
"We will have a single revenue collection institution, just like the national government," Mbadi declared.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
