‘It’s recipe for chaos’ – ODM calls out UDA for appointment of public officers into party ranks

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has called out the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) for appointing public officers into their party ranks.

ODM's condemnation comes after William Ruto's party appointed Kenya Revenue Authority's (KRA) Anthony Mwaura as its chairperson of the elections board.

Kenya Power Chairperson Joy Masinde was appointed the Electoral Disputes Resolution Committee (EDRC) chair.

To ODM, this is a recipe for chaos and takes the country back to the one-party state era.

"We deliberated on the developments in other parties and their implications for the nation.

"In particular, the committee expressed deep concerns over developments in UDA, where public officers, paid by taxpayers from all political formations, have been appointed as party officials.

"We are staring at the return of the party-state system last seen in the 1980s, where party leaders and public servants were one and the same thing. What followed was a youth wing with watchdog or surveillance responsibilities over the entire nation.

"We take the position that this development is wrong. It is a recipe for chaos, dictatorship, and partisanship in the management of public affairs," ODM said in a statement after the meeting of its Central Management Committee.

ODM called for these public officers to leave their positions as it believes there is no way they can serve the party and the public at the same time.

"Consequently, we demand that all those people who have been named as UDA officials immediately resign from public service. There is no way they will serve two masters: the public and the UDA party," ODM added.

Doctors' go-slow

ODM also touched on other national matters, including the ongoing strike by health workers.

"We see an equally pedestrian and dismissive approach to the doctors' strike and its impact on ordinary Kenyans. There seems to be neither commitment nor capacity by the government to resolve the matter.

"We take the position that the government must immediately respect and implement the 2021 court ruling, which directed the Ministry of Health and the 47 county governments to implement the basic salary as per the agreed, signed, and registered CBA of 2017–2021," the Orange party demanded.

The Raila Odinga-led said they support the demands tabled by the doctors and suggested how the crisis can be solved.

"In line with the demands of the striking doctors, the government must ring-fence health finances by operationalizing the Facility Improvement Fund. We support the call by doctors for the government to allocate 15 per cent of the budget to health and devolve the resources to the counties.

"We equally support calls by doctors for annual and incremental recruitment of doctors and other healthcare workers until the country attains the recommended levels of staffing for various levels of facilities. That is what the government does with teachers, police, and the military," the party added.